Why I'm Done with Sharing Photos on Social Media

I am at my wits' end.

Every time I find a social media app for photography, something happens.

The app either fails to live up to expectation or I fail to get into it and become frustrated.

On this blog you will find articles on Glass and Vero. I loved them both, for a time. I enjoyed the engagement and having a small number of people see my pictures. And I appreciated their creativity.

Something happened.

After writing a glowing review on Vero I began to lose interest. It was as if writing about my experiences, most of which were positive, led me to reassess my need for the platform. The level of interest and feedback the review attracted was phenomenal.

My writing struck a chord with fellow Vero members.

I asked myself a question.

What is the end goal from sharing photographs on social media?

• To grow the size of my following?
• To spend time every day liking posts and offering positive feedback?
• Displaying a public portfolio?

In truth. None of the above.

Leaving Vero: True Social

I realise a risk of overthinking is to see a problem when one does not exist. Yet, I am unconvinced the time investment is worth it. The RAW Community on Vero dominates and creates a two-tier system. One for those obsessed with RAW exposure via a plethora of hashtags, and those who abstain.

Do I play along for another year, two years, or three?

Then Vero published its roadmap.

There were welcome app improvements such as threaded comments. But the financial journey is incomprehensible though I suspect it concerns a form of share ownership.

The second build phase — 'Utility' — is focused on infrastructure and tools (including sustainable monetization opportunities) that will enable creators and their fans (members) to directly connect and collaborate with one another in ways that better empower a more mutual value exchange between creators and community.

You can read the full article from Vero creator, Ayman Hariri.

By the time I publish this article my Vero account will be inactive.

I need to stress something. The issue is with me, not Vero.

I fail to see the need to spend time on Social Media and post images as if they were tweets. Or should I say X's?

But what about Glass?

Leaving Glass.Photo

Glass will refuse me entry for sure.

For the third time I am going to cancel my subscription and delete my data.

This time for different reasons.

With Glass I thought I had found a Social Media home for my photography.

I was wrong.

The Glass environment is calm. There is no hashtag nonsense or RAW Community.

Nobody can show a giant follower count and follow a teeny-weeny number in return. Some people obsess over such things on Vero.

Why leave Glass?

As the Glass.Photo app is about to turn two years old the developers have decided to create a two-tier system.

Glass is a subscription service which avoids the need for advertisers and algorithms.

£26 a year is reasonable and I would be willing to pay more. But as of 25 July 2023 a new premium subscription is available.

For £99 a year. Well, Glass can explain.

Patron provides additional support to the team, provides Early Access to new features as they're still being refined, three yearly memberships to share Glass with friends, extra app icons, and more! Oh, and a cute little yellow badge.

I was unamused.

I'd pay more, but not that much more.

When engaging on Glass there will be the Patrons and the 'others'. You know, those without the yellow Patron badge.

It's not as if I am a freeloader. Non-patrons are paying - sorry, were paying (past tense), a subscription too.

Simple question.

Would I get £99 worth of value from posting images?

You know the answer.

What Next?

I'm done with Social Media. The X/Twitter fiasco, Threads and privacy concerns. No temptation.

The countless imitation platforms that come and go in popularity. No temptation.

There is no compelling case to share your photography on the internet. The exception might be if you are promoting your business.

But there is an alternative.

To scratch my itch and know that my best images are out there, I will use this blog and, in the near future, a separate portfolio site.

No other shenanigans.

Thanks for reading this far. If you found this story helpful, please consider buying me a coffee. It would mean so much. 😊