Is Facebook the way forward?
Some musing on social networking…
For the past three and a half years, Flickr has been the site where I share new work and the place I have considered my main ‘portal’ of communication with my viewers. Nearly 30,000 people on Flickr call me a contact.
I first joined Flickr in 2006. It’s the photo-sharing community vibe of Flickr that sparked off my interest in photography. However, one of the main problems I have had with the site is Flickr’s intense antagonism of commercial use of one’s photostream. Flickr likes to barricade its space in on itself, and whilst it demands external links go back to Flickr, it doesn’t like to return the favour, especially where the ‘commercial’ is concerned.
What is deemed as ‘commercial’, however, is another problem area, because Flickr do seem to be massively inconsistent in setting what the rules actually are. They have previously stated that only one’s profile can be used for ‘commercial’ links, and only one commercial link is allowed. However, I’ve seen people told to remove all links from their profile, and also, I’ve seen people asked to remove all links from their photostreams – even links to one’s blog or website (not directly ‘commercial’.) Moreover, these instructions are given to some people, and not to others – there are many photostreams blatantly plugging prints, books, events and creative services, which are seemingly invincible even though Flickr have inevitably been tipped off about them by those who are called to question. This is not the only rule Flickr have been unclear about – they have also been ambiguous about the rules on the content filters and what constitutes ‘moderate’ and ‘restricted’.
So, getting back to the issue of the 30,000 people that call me a contact on Flickr, I cannot in any way do anything with those 30,000 people other than have my pictures show up on their contacts pane. I can’t Flickrmail everyone about an exhibition or my prints (tried that once in my first few months and got my account deleted!) I can’t copy and paste their email addresses (for those who do share that info) into a mailing list, because someone would trace it back and Flickr staff would have my guts for garters.
Sharing my newest pic (with a soft-sell announcement or two) to 30,000 Flickr users is good exposure in itself, but is limited in what I can do, it’s a restricted, in-house visual mailing list; and the nature of Flickr (and what it has become for me) means that there are lots and lots of comments from often faceless people (using Flickr nicknames, not their real names). It might indirectly lead to things, but in terms of business, its indirectness (and walking on eggshells with regards to what one can and can’t promote) can be frustrating.
Then there is Facebook. I set up a page on there a few months back (a Miss Aniela ‘page’ as opposed to my personal account).
So, in context with what I’ve said about Flickr, what’s good about Facebook?
(a) few rules against commercial use. Positively geared for individuals and businesses to promote themselves. And their wares. Or both at the same time, if you’re one of those confusing people whose business and self are kind of blurred. (Like me). So you don’t have to worry if you get mixed up, cos unlike Flickr, Facebook won’t zap you into a million pieces for it.
(b) People use their real name. An oasis of normality amidst a desert of anonymity that is the world wide web.
(c) The most important one – mostly everyone seems to be on there.
Also, I have found that a large number of people can interact relatively intimately, selecting what they want to ‘like’, or comment on, or query. Your updates show up in your followers’ newsfeeds and you can quite literally link people to wherever you want. The layout is pretty good too.
So, without sounding like I am selling Facebook, I think it’s the way forward – for a creative who is trying also to make a livelihood, and to be unashamedly ‘output’ themselves, and measure the return. It’s not necessarily going to be the initial place for sharing new work (as yet; that will still be Flickr), but for interaction with viewers. So, if you are on Facebook, I would like to invite you to join my page on there. Not only will I be posting links and stuff to things you might find interesting, concerning my work and also things I am involved with (exhibitions and events and features), as well as links to when I have a new pic on Flickr, or a new post on this blog, but I have decided to start getting active with some blatant self-promotion that will offer you the chance to win prizes: prints, books and more. So check it out!
Ok, that’s off my chest.
Now, Twitter.
Gah…..
…You can also find me on Twitter.
Posted in Essays, musings, Uncategorized on September 24th, 2009 | 14 Comments | Tweet This!
7:36 pm on September 24th, 2009
Be sure to read the terms of service for facebook carefully (and every time you they change them!) … a while ago they tried to put in language that basically said they could let third parties use your content if they want. The community, of course, revolted. Also be aware that those third party applications that your friends use can crawl and harvest your data if you have not set your privacy levels correctly. (see http://apps.facebook.com/aclunc_privacy_quiz/)
I also don’t like facebook for photos because their compression algorithms make photos look like crap.
That said, I usually see your pics here on your blog.
9:06 pm on September 24th, 2009
thanks for that. To be honest, I still have to check the rules to make sure you can actually make full commercial use of the site. I just went ahead and uploaded my assumptions here in this blog post, based on what i’ve experienced so far from other people’s facebook streams! if anyone has any corrections then they are welcome here.
in terms of third party use – yes i’ve been aware of that and i did wipe all my own personal pics off my own Facebook account when i heard it first. Regarding my Miss Aniela images, i won’t be putting them all on the Miss Aniela page, not just because of worry over third party use but also because nudity is not allowed, and generally because i have other places to showcase galleries of pics (primarily flickr, plus my own site). And you’re right, the pics don’t look that good on there.
What i wanted to emphasise in this entry is more the use of Facebook as a tool to share news and links, and as a place to do little promotional things linking elsewhere, ie. stuff people are free to ‘harvest’.
thanks for your input here!
9:12 pm on September 24th, 2009
Fascinating. I have only ever had people try ton convince me to use Facebook from a personal standpoint. “You HAVE to join.” “Come by my friend.” “Everybody is doing it.” I find it wonderfully interesting to read somebody’s thoughts from a commercial/promotion point-of-view.
9:12 pm on September 24th, 2009
By they way, I adore the photo above!
1:59 am on September 25th, 2009
Natalie,
I clicked on the button to make me one your “fans” on Facebook; I like it, because it is a very convenient way to keep up with what you are doing.
And as long as you have a link to your dot-com, its blog, and the gallery, I have a good way to see your latest images. (And of course, since you are a “contact” on Flickr, I can always check the “recent uploads” link to see what you have posted lately there.)
I think that the real lesson here is that there is no single service that will serve our needs. But it is not overly frustrating to jump around from site to site.
All told, nothing perfect, but it is working well.
4:23 pm on September 28th, 2009
So true Natalie! I just received a message about my “commercial” linkage as well–I said “can you please be more specific, my blog, my website?…I’m not linking to my etsy page anymore, and that is the only spot to make a purchase” …no response…I could very well be deleted tomorrow for all I know! It is ridiculous that you cannot link to outside sources, especially when people link their flickr on other sites–I’m sure flickr doesn’t have a problem with THAT aspect! Double standards
4:27 pm on October 4th, 2009
What is your twitter account Natalie?
8:25 pm on October 6th, 2009
http://twitter.com/missaniela
7:23 pm on October 12th, 2009
I have mixed feelings towards Facebook. I agree it’s a great tool to keep people updated with news and links…but…dunno, it sometimes gives me a sense of embarrassment, particularly when I receive fan page invitations from amateurs who seem desperate to promote their selves as professional artists. I then get the feeling I shouldn’t be on there…
I haven’t joined twitter, nor have the motivation to. it’s just too much to take for me!
11:21 pm on October 12th, 2009
Interesting to hear your take on social networking as a self marketing tool, it chimes with what a lot of other Pro’s are doing – Chase Jarvis for instance uses all the usual suspects Facebook Twitter etc I suspect he has a few assistants to help him though. i think keeping them all updated with “good” content” would becomes a full time job in itself!
10:30 pm on October 18th, 2009
Do you actually expect people on Facebook to buy prints?
11:13 pm on October 31st, 2009
@ Rossina
I would encourage you to keep using it… sometimes I feel a bit cautious of how much of a ‘Miss Aniela party’ to throw on there, i feel a sense of ‘embarrassment’ sometimes too, when the comments flood in underneath my latest announcement and i feel wary of annoying everyone’s newsfeeds. But then again, i guess that’s how flickr is too!
@ Arty smokes
Facebook has been a fantastic tool to keep in touch with people who have bought my prints or books before, and to keep them in the loop so that it’s easy for them to come back and buy more. So, in a one-word answer to your question: ‘Yes’. They already have done.
@ robbie – yes it does take alot of time, other photographers have mentioned to me how it feels like there becomes less time for actually taking new pictures. I think maybe setting oneself a particular day of the week for doing all this online marketing might be a good idea… or at least, something i’m planning to do is set myself a day of the week where I definitely will go out and take pictures!
12:02 am on December 23rd, 2009
I think Facebook is way more important than flickr. Facebook lets you interact with possible clients, while flickr is more a place to interact with fellow artist. Facebook has a lot better conversion rate I think :=) 30k followers on Facebook would be a lot easier to monetize than 30k followers on flickr are =)
Needless to say I have recently started using my facebook page more, and I have it linked to my twitter, and I have my networked blogs linked to my page.. So I have a lot of automatation. I even include hash tags in my facebook statuses sometimes. And I use a lot of tagging in statuses, and images to get more views.
Anyway, interesting post. Ill tweet it =)
4:24 am on December 27th, 2009
I think as a artist you need to have both. If you dont you are only limiting yourself. I recomend you import your pictures from flickr to facebook fan page. they have a pllugin for that. It will notify all your fans and you wont be stuck with facebooks privacy settings.
Keep up the amazing work!