There’s Too Much Social Media

Like all of you, I’ve been on social media for many years at this point. Initially it was fun, but now it feels like a chore, frankly. Sure, my ego enjoys the likes and comments, but I’m getting to the point where I am not sharing on social media nearly as much as I used to. I’m just burned out, I guess. And there are several reasons why. Plus my attitude and desire to engage has changed over the years.

When it was one or two sites that I had a presence on, it was sort of easy to keep up with. But these days there are so many different sites that I cannot keep up with it, and I don’t even try anymore. It’s overwhelming, and the more time I spend scrolling, the less time I spend creating. And I have a huge desire to create. I’ve even cut back on the sites that I have been active on in the past.

Also, keep it mind that it’s much more than just sharing a photo. It’s creating a reel/short, and a story with some behind the scenes content, plus some “out in the field” video, plus a photo, and probably more stuff I can’t think of right now. And many times the photo is not just a single photo, but a group of them (carousel) around a common theme, or location, etc. 

It’s a LOT of work! This requires planning and creating for a specific purpose. It doesn’t just happen. It requires a lot of pre-work, planning and execution to get this all together. And that takes time. 

I want to see all the pretty pictures that are shared, because I do find them inspiring and of course I love seeing beautiful photos, but it also makes me a little jealous, to be honest. I want to be out taking photos a lot more often than I actually am. I want to visit a lot of places. And I know that social media is mostly just a highlight reel, but it still makes me want to get out and go somewhere instead of just sitting in my office. I have a million places on my bucket list. The list gets longer all the time. And I’m not getting any younger.

As a photographer who wants to grow his business, I feel like I am supposed to be sharing on social media a lot. It’s how you get eyeballs on your work, and how you make yourself and your work known, right? It’s how you grow a following, how you gain sponsors, and how you sell your stuff, whatever it is (courses, presets, workshops, prints, etc). It’s sort of the center of all of your marketing and promotional efforts. That’s been the formula for years now, and in some cases it works. But in my case, I am not sure.

My focus is on creating compelling tutorial videos for YouTube, and creating content for my website, blog and newsletter. That’s what I like to do, and want to do, and will continue to do. I love those aspects of my photography more than anything else (apart from going out to shoot, obviously).

That stuff doesn’t neatly fit into a quick post on social media. And the creation process for me is not quick either. I work on these things for a while before I share them. Sure, I can dump a photo here and there, but it feels a little hollow, a bit empty.

The things that I create, and like to create, are a bit deeper than just sharing a photo on some site. Writing here on the blog or in my newsletter, or creating a tutorial video, is an engaged activity through and through. You can’t phone it in. It’s a lean-in experience for me. I can’t coast through it, and frankly don’t want to. I like the depth of this stuff compared to the more shallow social media posting. It’s fun to think about, fun to write about, and fun to record videos about.

The “need” to constantly be sharing work and being present on so many social sites has burned me out, and I wasn’t really even doing that much to begin with. Compared to a lot of photographers that I know and/or follow, who seem to be on all these sites and sharing all the time, my digital footprint on them is somewhat small, and it’s definitely inconsistent.

And truthfully, I am not sure how they even find the time to constantly be on all these sites. Social media is a full time job these days, if you want to be everywhere all the time. I’ve essentially decided that I don’t want to be. It’s too much to do, too much of a time suck, and the benefits feel limited to me. It’s a trade-off that I don’t want to make.

Here’s a list of the sites that come to mind (though there are so many that I am surely forgetting several):

• Facebook: personal page and business page

• Instagram

• Threads

• Bluesky

• Twitter/X

• YouTube (kinda/sorta a social media site)

• LinkedIn

• Flickr

• Pinterest

• Vero

• Foto

That’s just off the top of my head. And I see photographers that post on a lot of these sites every day, and sometimes even multiple times per day.

That is a TON of work every week, even if you only focus on a few sites. If you think about the “need” to post on all of them consistently, that is many hours per week that you could spend on this stuff. It’s a major time commitment.

I just don’t have that much free time, but more importantly, I don’t have the desire to be on those sites all the time. It’s exhausting, and it keeps me from creating the things that I want to create. 

No, I am not quitting social media. This is not some rant and I am not fired up or angry about it. I’m just writing what I’m thinking, and sharing it with you. I will keep posting on a few sites, albeit a bit inconsistently. I’m just finding that I feel better and create better when I focus on myself and what I like to do in regards to my photography.

I love the creation process, and I love sharing what I learn with all of you, and sharing my thoughts about different aspects of photography. It’s far more rewarding to me than a like on some social media app. It’s deeper, and it’s real. And I enjoy the writing and teaching that I do, and plan to continue that. It makes me feel good to create. And of course, I love the feedback that I get from you all, whether it’s a comment on a video, or on my blog, or a reply to my newsletter. It makes me feel great when someone says that I have helped them.

I like to focus on value and education, and I plan to continue to deliver that as often as possible. And I don’t see a lot of value in social media, nor a good way to deliver it via social media.

How is social media going for your photography? How do you feel about it?