I see too many friends and photographer peers obsessing about what other people are doing - worrying they are not doing enough or being good enough. They constantly stalk Instagram posts and stories, spy on each other's activities online, measuring how many more likes and engagements one has against another. I find this quite daunting, and honestly pointless. I have been off Instagram for more than a year, and I could not have been happier. Sure, my main IG account is still live, but I seldom post, and I follow no one, not even a single person. I think photography is about your own process of finding your stories and visual expression, it should not be about how people around you influence or dictate your actions and directions in your creative pursuit. Unfortunately, this is of course, easier said than done, and I have seen so many people being sucked into the never-ending void of depressing "why does he get more likes than me" disease.
I decided to get off Instagram because I realized I was spending too much time on the app on a daily basis. I think I clocked in an average of half and hour to 45 minutes a day. I thought to myself, that could have been better spent elsewhere - reading a few chapters of a book, or being more productive like editing a batch of images for my client's deliverables. It adds up quickly, we are talking about hundreds of hours combined in a matter of weeks or months. Therefore, I pulled the plug. No I did not uninstall the app, I just consciously don't open the app. It is still there, my account is still alive, I just don't post and I don't engage. I don't scroll around aimlessly. I just spend my time elsewhere, outside of the app.
I am not against social media, in fact it is integral to modern livelihood. Used strategically, social media platforms can be powerful - it reaches a wide audience, and enables the creators to accomplish things. However, the unhealthy obsession of doom-scrolling, constantly comparing against others especially on photography centric content - why is that photographer getting more likes than me, his photographs sucks! Why is he getting 100k followers, he does not deserve it, he is just successful because he is showing skin. Why is she so famous and why does she get thousands of comments on each post? Maybe she purchases fake followers and bot comments! Oh so many possibilities in the world of "I deserve better than this" and "I can do better than everyone else".
The fundamental problem here may not have anything to do with social media at all, but it has been known that social media preys on our insecurities. Much like beauty magazine, promoting impossible standards of human body, and Hollywood movies showing unobtainable physical aesthetics. While the photography side of universe may not be 100% the same, it is still applicable - many influencers or creators are showing inflated sense of importance and elevated superficial work which mere mortals are not able to touch. Is that reality? No. Are we really interested in reality? No. We want everything to be larger than life, we want things to be exaggerated, bigger, louder, faster stronger, bolder. Same with the photographs we see - everything is National Geographic worthy these days, which I find troubling because that is not what photography is supposed to be.
So imagine, a relatively new photographer comes into the scene, sets up an IG account, and is bombarded with hundreds of posts from supposedly successful and highly popular accounts. While there was nothing wrong with the images or standards being shown (what is good photography is subjective of course, I don't think many things posted on IG fall into the good photography category), after being flooded with loud, bombastic images left right center, it can get to you and play with your insecurities. You start to question your work, your worth and whether you should even be doing what you do. That is the start of the downward spiral.
Photography should not be about you shooting better images than others. Heck, there is no point comparing your work against others. You are you, there is no other you, your photography speaks about you and that should be celebrated and unique by itself. The issue with social media? Everyone is trying to do the same thing and copying each other, there is no sense of originality anymore, and if you don't play along with the games, you are excluded and you go nowhere in the game. That is just plain wrong, because your voice matters, and as long as you stay true to your heart, you click the shutter button based on what you feel and what you genuinely like, there should be no wrong.
My advice, is to be yourself. Don't worry about others doing better than you, it won't get you anywhere. Your photography matters, your voice matters, you matter. Stay true to yourself, stay true to your own voice, and you will see that your work reflects who you are. Then you will truly shine, and your people, or the right audience will find you and your work. Some of the best photographers that I know in real life have really sad following on Instagram, FB or any social media platforms, but that does not take away the quality of their work, and what they have accomplished as photographers.
Remember, numbers on social media do not reflect how good a photographer is. You have to ask yourself what is more important, more likes, or to be better as a person and a photographer?
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