Social Media and Photography

Anouilh

Having joined Twitter I find that the Topsy link to my profile is a quick way to share photos with friends:

http://topsy.com/twitter/anouilh

Tumblr is also very popular and attracts many artists.

Tips on how to use social media efficiently would be very welcome, please.

Many of us work away quietly for years and have a very small audience for our work.

PCPhoto

tip - dont upload anything - unless you have it watermarked and a copyright notice with it - with contact details.

(I know its obvious to some...but gives you an extra advantage if image is used illegally and legal action is taken)

also...keep an eye on image viewing stats ...if you see a peak/spike ...chances are your image has been stolen/used online somewhere else.

AnCatDubh

Interesting, haven't had discussion on social media about here of recent times.

One thing I had commented on recently was that the number of social media channels which we have (twitter, Facebook, 4squre, linked in, boards, google plus, etc...), yet each new social media channel doesn't make us any more social. Yes, there is an initial make contacts and follow, then move on to next social media channel only to follow mostly the same people posting the same stuff as they post on the initial source.

A bit of work based research (about 100 online non employee individuals) asked what social media platforms were they on. Facebook was fairly ubiquitious 95+%. So I conclude, everyone should save themselves a bunch on time and only post to facebook - big jump to conclusion maybe. Yeah i know, people hate facebook - but mostly they'll still be on it.

That said other sources such as twitter becomes more about the conversation in real time.

In many ways, it will be horses for courses.

Top social media tip - unfollow people who's posts annoy you. Your sanity will thank you for it. Keep your follow list tidy. You wouldnt really be friends in real life anyway and their postings will only irk you in the long run.

It's a very odd world anyway.

lisatiffany

Hi Anouilh not to be a downer but I don't actually put work on tumblr or most places outside of flickr but I'm constantly getting emails from people saying they spotted certain shots online especially tumblr. Now fair enough if you want the exposure but just be wary of people taking those images and posting them on other sites. It happens a lot more than people think and one of the only ways to find out is if someone you know sees it and knows to notify you. Just last week I had to contact tumblr again, when it happens you usually get something like this back.


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Italian and English support
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Like I said you are actively choosing tumblr but if they do end up somewhere else that you don't want them to be then let the site know straight away. tumblr are quite good at getting images removed, since January I was in touch with them over 30 times. I tend to not only watermark and copyright images but seal and date stamp an envelope full of photos, its a trick I was taught in filmschool and its gotten quite a few invoices paid in photography too for unpaid use of an image and proof of ownership.

That said social media sites are great for getting your work viewed, I worked for myspace in California for a while, it was mostly with unsigned bands but they got so much exposure that they soon were signed. Facebook doesn't operate that way nor does Twitter, I know plenty of other photographers on there but they all agree that watermarks and copyright are the way to go - especially on Facebook where the rules on ownership of content are murky at the least. I always look at the internet as, don't put anything up there that you don't want showing up on jumbotron in times square.

sineadw

Seal and date an envelope?? Sure that's what raw and exif data is for..

@OP - just have fun with it the rest kind of follows. I hate SM when people are trying too hard..

EyeBlinks

Social media, much like website traffic, can often be a lot of navel gazing.

For me mixing it with real life is where it becomes an asset.

lisatiffany

sineadw wrote: »

Seal and date an envelope?? Sure that's what raw and exif data is for..

@OP - just have fun with it the rest kind of follows. I hate SM when people are trying too hard..

Oh I agree but if you lose the original RAW files and there are no sites that have the image's RAW data embedded then you are in a tough spot. Its rare but it can happen and its better being safe than sorry. I had a 2TB drive fail on me recently with mostly shots from a recent project in the UAE but I never put them online and now they are gone, if I had have put them on a site that doesn't store EXIF data and someone stole the images I'd have no proof of ownership.

It all depends on how many backups you have too, if you are depending on EXIF as proof make sure you keep the original RAW files (not everyone does) and keep good back ups. I only do the envelope thing because I have learned where to and where not to put my trust, the internet and social networking is a great platform to get your work out there but there are always going to be others ready to profit off of something they didn't create. Hold onto your RAWs and you should be fine.

DaireQuinlan

lisatiffany wrote: »

It all depends on how many backups you have too, if you are depending on EXIF as proof make sure you keep the original RAW files (not everyone does) and keep good back ups. I only do the envelope thing because I have learned where to and where not to put my trust, the internet and social networking is a great platform to get your work out there but there are always going to be others ready to profit off of something they didn't create. Hold onto your RAWs and you should be fine.

That whole envelope thing isn't particularly secure though, right ? I can imagine sending stuff to a lawyer or notary or something and have them store it, but in the case that I'm just sending envelopes full of stuff to myself what's to stop me from sending a pile of unsealed envelopes to myself, then in a years time (or whatever) printing out all of sineadw's shots, popping them into one of the envelopes, sealing it, claiming I took the shots a year earlier and then suing her for copyright infringement ?

magicbastarder

registered post. you can't send an unsealed envelope, so the test then would be would they be able to detect whether an envelope was unsealed and then resealed.

regarding RAW data - you could reset the date on the camera to claim the shot was taken at a different time, but this would obviously have to be done before the shot was taken, unless you're extremely good at reshooting a shot perfectly.

DaireQuinlan

magicbastarder wrote: »

registered post. you can't send an unsealed envelope, so the test then would be would they be able to detect whether an envelope was unsealed and then resealed.

regarding RAW data - you could reset the date on the camera to claim the shot was taken at a different time, but this would obviously have to be done before the shot was taken, unless you're extremely good at reshooting a shot perfectly.

Ah right, that'd be a little harder to fake I guess. I can't see it actually standing up in court if the push came to a shove though. Ironically the best defense that it was yours would be to upload it to some popular photosite as soon as you take it. Flickr I know allows you to replace shots and to change dates and so on, but I'd imagine they log all these activities. Alternatively maybe emailing yourself a copy. How easy would it be to subvert the internal workings of GMail for example ? But would they open up their records for some (in their view) trivial civil case ?

lisatiffany

The envelope steps I mean:
(1) - I print the shots
(2) - I sign the back with a date and time
(3) - Drop into my solicitors and he signs the envelope then dates and stamps it
(4) - The envelope goes into storage and comes out again if I need proof other than EXIF

There has never been a case where someone refuted the status of the envelope as being opened and resealed, usually when they realized the envelope even existed they just paid up.

If I didn't have regular access to a solicitor I wouldn't do it that way I would probably just put the shots in and seal the envelope then have it stamped and sent to myself as registered post. I don't open it unless the situation arises where I need the proof. I can understand people think its a bit much but its a headache and a half when you do have something stolen, most sites will just remove the content on request but businesses like Hotels and Postcard companies will ignore invoices until you finally bring in outside help and by that time they have already profited off of it.

I love technology but its possible to exploit it to get your way, EXIF data can be faked and email addresses can be hacked. Having an actual print puts my mind to rest on important shots. It's only something small like every 10 out of 100 shots and sometimes I include a thumbnail sheet with an overview of the full set. Other times I have just taken a print out of the EXIF data and emailed it to whichever site, again the images are removed.

Many sites are used to having the original owner contact them and say they didn't authorize use of the content but if its a business and they are using it on their site they can be rather adamant about holding onto it. Invoices emails and calls get ignored until you either pressure them with legalities or they decide to just remove it. Either way it can be over in a minute or long and drawn out. For a lot of people a visual watermark is enough but that too can be cropped or photoshopped out if one is determined enough. I'm not trying to scare anyone I'm just going from personal experience.