Twitter and Photography: A Match Made in Cyberspace
I've been an active user of Twitter for over nine months. In that time I have come to depend on this great social-networking tool for keeping in touch with a lot of fellow photographers.
If you don't know what Twitter is, it is kind of hard to explain. It is a micro-blogging service that allows users to post 140 character updates. These updates are then sent to other Twitter members who are "following" the user. Users can decide they follow and can block people from following them (if they desire).
The majority of the people I follow are related to photography. They are photographers, designers, industry people and the like. In keeping with this theme, the most of my updates (Tweets) are photography and tech related.
When I am working on my production iMac (usually editing images), I keep Twitter running on the second computer. I find this is a great way to keep in touch without having to be "actively" chatting with people. If I see something come across that I want to reply to, I can. Otherwise I just watch occasionally read the updates as they scroll by.
One of the best uses I have found for Twitter is using it as a source of quick information. If I have a question (again, usually photography related), I can ask it to my Twitter followers and I will usually get a pretty quick answer. As an example of this, I just asked this rather generic question on my Twitter feed:
"How many photogs carry a backup camera with them when you shoot? Is it a DSLR or Point and Shoot? Same model as primary or an older one?"
And within a minute, I've received a couple of replies. The first one came from local photographer Mike Calanan and the second one from St. Louis photographer Dan Zimmerman:
calanan: @leggnet Always, D700 primary, D200 backup"
danzphoto: @leggnet I ALWAYS carry a backup - shooting wedding and sports. Not responsible if you don't. Shoot with D300, carry a D200 as backup, 2nd
(Edit: After 15 minutes, I received an additional 6 replies to the question)
One thing about Twitter that I have learned in both the updates of users I follow and my own is to provide a bit of substance. As I mentioned, I like to keep my tweets photography related and link to outside sources when relevant. There are users that blast meaningless junk into their feed, and these are the ones I avoid.
Bad Tweets (fictitious)
twittgrls123 OMG, I just at teh most AWFUL sanwich. PB with tomatos on rye. YUKKK!
mlm_guru_123 Make $10,000 this month!!! You're an idiot if you don't do MLM. Click this link ------> jkfdsjkldfs.com
Good Tweets (real examples)
ramseeker New blog post: How to Upgrade Memory in Apple Mac Mini 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo http://tinyurl.com/cdjh2p
hawridger New post at PB: Canon 1D Mark IIIn Rumor Update http://tinyurl.com/dn9ct2
When someone follows me on Twitter, I take a look at their last 20 or so updates and make a quick judgment on whether I want to follow them back. If I see any marketing or "Get Rich Quick" posts I don't follow them. If I see photography or tech information, I usually will. I follow about 1/2 the amount of people who follow me.
So, how do you get started. It is simple. Go to http://twitter.com/signup and do just that, sign up. It is free and easy. Once you have your account, find a Twitter user with similar interests and click "Follow". You can also look at who they are following and see if any of those members are ones you'd like to add to your network.
Once you've done that, begin posting updates and replying to others. You will be amazed at how quickly it will become a useful tool in your online life.
5 Comments:
So true. I recently moved from Philly to Houston and have been relying on social media to keep me sane until I make a little circle of "real" friends. Since I was now attempting to establish my photography in Houston, I joined some Houston-related Flickr groups, and then somehow started following a few Houston photogs on Twitter. All of the sudden I hear about this awesome event, PhotoCampHouston. A free photography Un-conference, promoted MAINLY through Twitter. I went, I learned a tremendous amount, I met a ton of cool local photogs, and now I'm following them all and sharing info via Twitter (and Flickr).
If you're a beginner, like me, slowly building up the people you follow is like starting a reference book collection that keeps updating itself...
I've lost count of all the great advice, new sites (and laughs) I've had through exploring the links provided by fellow Twitterites.
Even if you're a bit quiet on the Twitter (again, like me), build up who you follow, and it's a superb reference. Hopefully one day I'll have enough knowlege to be a resource too!
"One thing about Twitter that I have learned in both the updates of users I follow and my own is to provide a bit of substance. As I mentioned, I like to keep my tweets photography related and link to outside sources when relevant. There are users that blast meaningless junk into their feed, and these are the ones I avoid."
Yet in your last 5 tweets:
"I'm having breakfast with my daughter, and she wants to see how many texts her new phone can handle. Text her a "HI" to 801.671.1002 :)"
"@ whoever texted my daughter from Ireland, you made her morning :) (text her Hi at 801.671.1002 - she's enjoying this!)"
"(PLS RT) I'm having breakfast with my daughter, and she wants to see how many texts her new phone can handle. Text her "HI" to 801.671.1002"
To me that isn't photography related, and especially 3 times in succession. Seems like you have fallen foul of your own blog in about 24 hours :)
Keep up the good work though, I love following your blog and admire your work greatly.
Being consistent in your posts is a good thing, but I do think having fun and showing a little "personality" every now and again is not only acceptable, but desirable so that we get to know you.
Rock on breakfast club! :)
David
P.S.
I mentioned on Flikr and just had to laugh and mention again here ... I love it that you immortalized my meeting comment in the above capture! LOL
Well, you talked me into it. I just joined! Not sure how well I'll do with it since I'm more of a stalker:) Me on Twitter
PS - Speaking of stalking, I've enjoyed your blog here for awhile now :)
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