about a year ago, I’ve written a blog-post with the same topic, but that doesn’t stop me from writing again ... I think this topic is fast-paced subject, that it is worth looking at it again.

 

As I’ve more or less finished the work for this year (only a couple of small things still to be done) I have taken some time to work on my website and “revive” my channels on different social media platforms, for which I had no time during the year. Doing this I realized a couple of things I want to analyse and discuss a little bit with you and ask for your opinion on the matter. I want to include a link to my account with every description, so you can find me on every platform ... you can find the links in the header (just below my logo) as well. I’d really appreciate it, if you visit my pages and maybe get one of my followers there!

 

 

After all those years and all the negative turns facebook has taken over these times, this platform is still the only “real social medium” out there. The only platform which has all the possibilities like sharing images, videos, text, links, ... as well as direct communication (via messenger and/or comments directly below the shared content) with fans/followers ... additionally you have the possibility to present yourself with a “business page” ... combine all that and you have most of the tools you’ll need for communicating with customers and fans as well. And talking business, it is still my No. 1, as a huge percentage of the jobs I get through social media are from my precence on facebook ... but other platforms are catching up ...

 

Conclusion: still my No. 1, besides the negative tendencies ...

 

You can find my site here: https://www.facebook.com/Manuel.Faessler.Photography/

 

The Russian counterpart to facebook ... it has lots of the advantages and (at least not yet) almost no disadvantages from it. I think a big portion of the features even have a better concept behind them (sadly, not all of them are implemented that well). The only big disadvantage at the moment for me is the fact, that the big majority of the users are Russian ... which means it is not really my target audience ... but it is getting better as more and more people from western Europe (and allover the world) are joining.

Conclusion: really positive tendencies, but not enough users from “our hemisphere” ...

My account on VK: https://vk.com/mf__photography

 

The platform with the best “view”-statistics and the fastest-growing fanbase for me. Looks like it is still “in” and growing ... but as it is now belonging to the facebook-imperium and the increasing amout of advertising and payment-“invitations” I worry “a little bit” about the future of it.

A little problem (for me) is the very restricted possibilities to adjust the way you can present yourself (basically non-existent) as well as the square previews (which often changes the first impression of a pic – not always for the better) as well as the restrictions regarding the aspect rations (you often have to crop the pic during the upload).

But by far the biggest disadvantage is, that is not really possible to communicate with “fans” as well as the fact that you can basically use Instagram only with mobile devices (fully). It may be, that I’m old-school, but I just don’t like writing with a phone ...

If you intend to use this platform as your main-channel you additionally have to be very well informed about trends, good and bad hashtags (otherwise you might get “hidden” by Instagram), etc. otherwise you won’t be successful there ...

Conclusion: nice possibility to show off your pics on mobile devices (with restrictions), comes with a complicated “backend”

You can find my page here: https://www.instagram.com/manuelfaesslerphotography/

Or with the handle @manuelfaesslerphotography

Most definitly the best platform to show off your work with style and great quality. And you will achieve a very good reach as well as many responses. As many great photographers (and other creatives) are on that platform I use it to get inspiration as well. Which at the same time is one of the biggest disadvantages for me: the audience is mostly composed of photographers ... not really a target audience for me ... it is great for networking and some discussions, but will hardly get you any customers.

So the way I use it, is for inspiration purpses as well as to test how well my (new) pics are perceived ... I think it is a pretty good indicator for my other platforms, but no real “social medium”.

Another thing that bugs me is a “teething problem” the page never really fixed ... interaction (especially with people that aren’t your followers) is mostly based on the “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”-principle ... which means your interaction grows extremely, if you interact with other photographers’ pictures first ... even it is just with copy/paste comments like “superb”, “fantastic shot”, ... you’ll get the idea ... and you can imagine how this works out ...

You can find my page here ... I recommend it for every photography-lover, no matter if you intend to post picures yourself, or not ... you hardly will find better pictures elsewhere: https://500px.com/mf-photography

 

This page has only two purposes for me ... getting inspiration and making moodboards to share with Models/Make-up Artists ... so it is not really a social medium for me, but a visual tool for my shootings. Having said that, it sounds like I don’t like the page, which isn’t true at all ... I think it is a great concept with great searching-possibilities and links to other similar stuff ... and it is constantly growing as well.

As I really like the page I’ve even decided to allow pinning my own pics from the website ... the time will tell, if it will be used ... 😉

For those of you who want to follow my profile, I’ve started to make some “public” folders with inspirational pics and will continue to do so ... as well as showing my own pics of course.

My profile: https://www.pinterest.at/manuelfssler/

As I‘m not really using other platforms at the moment (at least not that much, that they would be worth mentioning), I don’t want to discuss them. I’d rather us a couple of lines to discuss my growing frustration with the two biggest platforms (facebook and Instagram) ... and yes, I know I’m not the first to criticise them ... 😉

As those to platforms are going down for a while now, and getting worse each update, I just have to ask myself if it is still worth all my input (to maintain your profile actively on such a page costs time ... a lot of time). I’m well aware that those pages run on some sort of business plan and want to make a buck or two, but at the moment it seems like they just can’t get enough ... they are milking the cow by all means possible, from advertising to actively charging the users for certain services. The biggest problem I see is, that they started off easy and have let you build up your network, and now that you’ve put in a considerable amount of time and work, they start to blackmail you with it ... they just decrease your online reach step by step and try to force you into buying the lost reach ...

All in all it looks to me like I either have to swallow that pill and pay them or see all my work I’ve put in in years go down the fucking drain ... or at least is worthless from now on.

So that was my thoughts on the matter, and now I’m interested in yours ... how do you deal with this situation? I know from previous blogposts that some of my readers here must have asked themselves the same questions and maybe even have a solution? Maybe someone uses a different platform I don’t know? Anyway, I’d like you to tell me what you think about it ... either as comment here or via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If I find anything interesting for you, I’ll sure let you know!

Cheers,
Manuel