Life Goes On After Twitter
I No Longer Display Photos On (Or Use) Twitter — And Life Still Goes On
I spent 15 years using Twitter to promote my photography and my photographic business endeavors.
I was verified (13+ years ago) when it meant something other than a vanity check.
I had around 200,000 followers when I stopped using the platform.
I deleted Twitter from my phone and haven’t looked at the site for nearly a month.
Guess what — life goes on.
Twitter is now a complete circus. Elon Musk overpaid for the service and is using it as his personal vendetta machine. The signal to noise ratio is 99% noise to 1% signal. So there’s no reason to be there anyway.
Even before the Musk debacle, Twitter’s effectiveness for photographers began to wane. Just like Instagram, you have to pay Twitter so that your own audience will be able to see your photos.
I am not going to do that. And if I planned to do that I certainly wouldn’t do it now — given what Musk has done to platform so he can act like a five-year-old and taunt his imaginary enemies.
Many of my friends suggested that I would be back. After 15 years it’s a solid habit. But I am here to tell you I suffer from ZERO Twitter anxiety.
I read enough in the news about what’s going on there to know it’s no place for me or for my photography.
I am very active on Vero. It’s far from perfect but I am getting more traction from (now 428 followers) than I got on Twitter from 200,000.
If you want to know my thoughts on VERO I wrote about the pros and the cons of the service here.
https://medium.com/@toyphotographs/do-i-still-recommend-vero-for-photographers-yes-but-f169b673d407
I am also gaining a tiny audience here on MEDIUM.
Do I really need to be anywhere else? I am always open to looking at everything, but I am retiring and have no real business need for social media.
Since most of it‘s’ a cesspool and there’s very little actual human interaction (beyond Russian Troll Farm workers) I see no value or need to be anywhere else — for now anyway.
CONCLUSION
If you want to know whether or not life goes on after Twitter — the answer is YES! I’d also suggest that serious photographers consider whether or not they want to publish their serious work on a platform that is now being built out as one giant troll factory. Do you want your pictures on a platform that is the plaything of a rich meglomanic with an axe to grind because someone stole his lunch money in fourth grade?
I am a toy photographer. I am trying to bring a smile to people’s faces. I don’t think posting my images up alongside posts from Nazis and trolls serves me or my audience in any way, so I am out.
Just my two cents.
Remember, toys are joy.
Follow me on VERO:
vero.co/scottbourne
