Monday, January 21, 2013

My First BLOG: A Reminiscence of Facebook on the Eve of Its Total Destruction

Oh my!  I feel kinda like a real, live, grown up photographer! :)

I guess I should thank Facebook for forcing me to grow up and get my business act together rather than taking the easy way and letting Facebook promote my business for me. It seems a shame though.  Facebook was fun--while it lasted and when it worked right.  So many small businesses--little mom & pop shops--- reaching out to one another and promoting one another.  Such fun to watch them all learn and grow with me.

Of course there is the other side of that, I guess.  I did have three complete failures trying to make transactions with Facebook "businesses."  One lady literally took the money and ran...shut down her page and turned off her phone. I'll pray for her.  I wish she had at least sent a message apologizing, explaining, something.  Plus, with Facebook having its death rattles, maybe I can keep my credit card bills down.  I was spending an awful lot of money on the cutest things for Tyley Sue. :)

And there is the "dark side" of the photography pages.  On one end of the spectrum you have the rock stars of photography--perfect every time, outrageously priced, and worth every penny if you can afford them.  On the other end you have the mom with her point and shoot camera who is just willing to help folks out by taking a few pictures of their families for a few dollars.  Nothing stellar but a simple service for a simple fee.  Then there are thousands in between (like me) who offer good images, nice extra touches like Photoshop editing, good locations, at a wide range of prices.   We try to stay affordable for the average family and still be creative and artistic with our images.  When suddenly along comes the Rock Star.... she says the rest of us are "fauxtographers." Nice, huh?  I'm puzzled by it. I'm not hurting her.  The people who come to me would never, ever, ever shell out $1500 for pictures in her studio. So why be so mean?  Maybe she never listened to Taylor Swift's song, huh?    Anyway, I saw a lot of nastiness among the photographers of Facebook. A lot of judgmental nastiness and name-calling. Maybe I am a "fauxtographer."  Maybe I will never be a Rock Star---maybe I don't want to be if it means I have to be insecure and call everyone names who decides to give this photography thing a try.  I hope I never rise so high that I forget where I started and how hard it was to learn everything (yeah, still working on that part).

So, Facebook may be dying.  Maybe not.  Maybe Zuckerberg will capitulate in the end as the mass exodus begins to occur.  Either way, I will simply adjust.  I will have to work a little harder by keeping up several sites at once instead of just a couple of simple posts at Facebook.  Now I will need to update my galleries ( www.zenfolio.com/simplymephotographybymetheredge ), tweet once or twice a day (@simplymestudios ), blog about my sessions here (simplymephotographybymetheredge.blogspot.com) , and then post the blog over at Facebook for the folks who remain there...oh and add an Instagram account to the mix.
If nothing else, I won't ever be bored.  :)
Thanks Facebook for making me stretch my wings.  Guess it's time to fly.

2 comments:

  1. I'm so glad I read this! Finally someone in which I can relate about the baffling statements of the "superstar" photographers. I seriously don't understand why they care so much what little ol' me is up to all the time. I don't charge enough to compete with their sets and fancy studios. And most of my clients certainly wouldn't be paying $1500 to the superstars like you said. Why do they name call? I mind my own business yet get attacked for what I chose to do with my time. Shame on them :( You keep up the good work. You're very creative :)

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  2. :) Glad someone agrees with me. I was horrified when I saw some of the comments being made on a Facebook post about how Facebook's new policies with business pages re hurting businesses and so many photographers began just ranting about how it would be a good thing because now all those "fauxtographers" wouldn't have a way to sell their $50 discs and would apparently be too ignorant to figure out another way to market themselves. I think what made me the saddest was that the business page that made the original post didn't put a stop to it or delete it. It was all so unprofessional. For all those "real" photographers and "real" business folks to be using a business page as a platform for bashing fledgling businesses just smacked of snobbery and foppishness.
    On a happier note, thank you. You just keep doing what you do, too. If it makes us happy and makes the people we do it for happy, then why not spread a little joy today, right?

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