Twitter has been at the top of the news cycle since Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of the company. And although the mere mention of his name provoked a variety of emotions, political views, and other reactions, for the sake of this article I do not want to focus on the political ramifications of his acquisition of Twitter, but rather about its impact. We are photographers. In fact, I’m very interested in some of his suggested changes to the platform and how they might affect photographers and content creators, especially if the changes are positive. .
2022 turns out to be an odd year for photographers using social media to grow their brands and share their work, especially for those of us who don’t. primarily capture still images rather than the increasingly popular short-form video content. . Earlier this year, Instagram famously tweaked their algorithm, a move that resulted in still images being blocked on videos. This was a transparent attempt to compete with TikTok by bolstering video content on the platform, and it was completely rejected by users, especially photographers. And, though they hit back after the backlash they received from both well-known and unknown photographers, eventually changing the algorithm again and claiming that it will process the photos. and videos alike, I can tell you that my photos still don’t look the same as they used to before their original changes. However, this is the subject for another article.
Then there’s Vero, an app that’s been around for a few years, but that’s never really been successful with photographers. Like many others, I opened a Vero account with the intention of moving my content to the new platform as my primary means of photo sharing, but again, I was disappointed. In my opinion, Vero, despite being a powerful app with a thoughtfully designed interface, still tries to be “Anti-Instagram” and doesn’t seem to have a niche. Personally, I don’t find myself posting and updating on Vero as much as I do on Instagram. Also, there are still not enough users on Vero for it to be a viable alternative to Instagram.
If you are a content creator as well as a photographer, you also probably know that YouTube has jumped on the TikTok bandwagon and is working on promoting “shorts”. This means that creators like me are now ready to create a 30- or 60-second video to preview a long-form video or a whole new piece of content. The problem with this is that many short snippets are based on a silly joke or another contrived method of getting people’s attention to your channel. I’ve done some of these on YouTube and Instagram myself, but I really don’t want to, as I feel like they lack content just for the sake of clicks. For example, I made a short joke about how I forgot to put the removable battery cover inside my grip before attaching it to the camera. This short clip received more than 3,000 views in the first few hours it went live, well above my usual engagement for long-form videos.
In conclusion, I’m certainly not the only one who feels a bit frustrated using all three of these apps as means of helping me share my photography work and grow my business. And this is why Twitter could be poised to become the go-to app for photographers and content creators, as Musk has said that paid users will get “priority in replies, topics access and search … the ability to post long video and audio.”
Musk recently floated the idea of creating an $8/month Twitter subscription. Included in his recommendation are several features including more powerful search, replies, and mentions that don’t benefit the blue checkmark crowd. This seems to make sense. However, the main feature that caught my attention was the ability to post long videos.
While the term is overused to the point of meaninglessness, posting a long-form video to Twitter can be the “game changer” needed to not only revive the platform, but turn it into one. Possible alternatives to YouTube and Instagram for photographers and content. creators. Many photographers post their work on Twitter, and since most of the major photography companies already have Twitter accounts, I think Twitter has great potential to take advantage of the best that YouTube and Instagram have to offer. Offers photographers and recoveries both stills and video content in a one-stop shop for advertising.
Also, in response to a tweet by Zuby Music, who suggested that Twitter works with content creators like other social networking sites and allows monetization, Musk replied: “Absolutely yes body.” Partnering with creators with long-form videos and tweaking the interface to tackle where other apps are struggling could really make Twitter our favorite in the photography industry .
Obviously, there’s quite a bit to discuss here, and most of us know that Musk is well known for his many ideas on Twitter as well as almost daily troll accounts. Having said that, if you asked me if I thought Musk would actually buy Twitter two months ago, I’d say, “No way.” However, we are here.
The elephant in Musk’s politically involved room, which had a polarizing effect on many users, some of whom were even at an early stage, have begun to abandon Twitter altogether. I understand how difficult it is to separate politics from the website itself, and this is definitely part of the discussion when it comes to Twitter’s future for us as photographers, content creators, and content creators. advertisement. Will Musk’s political leanings prevent potential users from adopting the platform even as he makes it more user-friendly for photographers and content creators? Or has Twitter become too toxic a platform for it to exist again? Only time will tell, but I’d love to hear what you think about the future of Twitter as an alternative for photographers in the comments section below.
Image led by user Flikr Steve Jurvetsonused under Creative Commons.
