“Social medias” are perhaps the biggest media buzz word these days. Especially the massive popularity of Twitter and Facebook indicates that these services just don’t go by unnoticed by the establishment anymore. Even the traditional medias write about these Internet phenomenons that used to be rather “obscure”, probably because a lot of the journalists are hooked too. Here in Norway Facebook is “the” thing, I think we got something like 2 million profiles out of 4,6 million inhabitants. I’ve had a profile on FB for quite a while, it’s a fairly intimate affair as I’m somewhat picky with who I “friend” and I prefer to keep a low profile. However, from various reasons (work related) I need to know and understand how this, and other networks function. Hence I got profiles in several places and try to keep up with the ever expanding functionality.

My latest foray into the ever expanding world of social media related services, I choose to make from sort of a photographic perspective. What can social medias offer for a hobbyist and enthusiast photographer like me that don’t do this for profit? My first venture was establishing a presence on Flickr, kind of the obvious place to go if you’re a photo nut. It’s the largest dedicated image hosting place on the Internet and offer a lot of different functionality. Ironically, I can’t say I care overly much for the browsing and picture viewing functionality of Flickr, I find it tedious and poorly designed. The discussion forums, groups, search function and ability to comment are however priceless functionality and very effective for building communities and connecting with other photographers and artists. All things considered Flickr is a great package, but it seems somewhat…contrived in certain areas, the functionality is not always that obvious or user friendly.

The next pass I made towards Facebook, which I do know from a couple years of use. I made a custom Facebook page which is a different beast from a personal profile or a group. A Facebook page allows me to separate the private snaps of my profile from the more “serious” work, while still being able to easily share it with others on my friends list. Also, a page allows others, that for some reason is interested in my photography, to keep an eye on my photographic efforts without having to be included in my small group of “friends”. I guess you could say separating business from personal life. I’ve seen a number of other photographers using Facebook pages and also some stating on forums that they are useful for their businesses, they get some extra customers and exposure. Considering the fact that Facebook, unlike Flickr, is not entirely populated by photographers, that seems very likely. There’s obvious potential in these kinds of medias.

Now, what if you cut this FB vs Flickr thing down to a purely user/visitor perspective? Well, I do find it’s easier to browse images on Facebook compared to Flickr and if I, who am rather computer savvy feel that, no doubt others do too. On the other hand, the low resolution (604×404 I believe) and heavy jpg compression of Facebook is brutal and seriously massacre many images. Frankly 1280px width/height is a bare minimum to get a rough idea of the technical quality and sharpness of an image and that is also what I generally post in the galleries here at Mind Over Madness. Even a 0.3mp cellphone picture can look nice if presented on or in a low-resolution screen or media. Yet, if you’re like me, always trying to achieve the best possible technical quality within the limitations of gear, skill and ability, these things matter. When you spend days, months and years dressing down pixels and looking up their most private and sensitive places, you tend to get very vary of the various flaws. JPGs are no matter how you put it, a format that compresses files, thus throwing away information. For most people though, low resolution web images are just fine and dandy. Facebook is thus likely the easiest for Joe Sixpack to browse, especially if they already use it and know it’s “logic”. There is no doubt though, that Flickr is the best network for photographers wanting to connect with other  photographers, with dedicated photography forums such as DPreview as a minor and not completely comparable exception.

Despite of the various quirks of Flickr and Facebook, they offer more arenas to show off my work and more chances to funnel people to my blog. Of course there’s a chance that my horrible photos will give them mental scars for life, but hey, what’s the point of having stuff on the net if you don’t want and try to show it to people? Admittedly, I don’t work very hard to promote Mind Over Madness, nor do I religiously update it twice per week and talk about subjects easily accessible to the great masses. I don’t have the surplus energy nor any interest in doing that. I write when I have something I need or want to say ;-)

Anyway, to speak more generally about social medias. However you put it, they are simply tools and frankly, I love tools, I’ll take all I can get! Social medias can be used for great benefit, or gloriously abused, I’m sure you know that, and the examples of both cases are numerous. One should approach them with care and common sense, think through what you post, say and link to. Don’t let the risks scare you away though!  These things ain’t going away, and trust me, you don’t want to be left out of the game. Likely both for personal and professional life, it is a good idea to at least understand what the fuss is all about. So, if I’m to make any statement to some old-school sceptic reading this, it would have to be that you should at least consider putting some time and energy into learning these things. With knowledge comes ability both to utilize but also connect the dots and see new possibilities. I’m not overly enthusiastic about social medias and the “always connected” phenomenon of modern life, but I reckon that if you know something ain’t going away, you’re best off figuring out a way to live with it.