Is Facebook good for you and your photography?


Is Facebook messing with your mind?

As many people probably know, I'm not a huge fan of Facebook, and whilst this blog is related to that service, it's points can probably be applied to many other social media groups. I spent ages resisting, but finally I decided to join so as to explore the possible benefits it could afford my photography. There is no doubt that there are many and varied rewards to be gained, however there are also some major downsides, that unless understood can have a serious negative effect.

After several years of use, I started to recognise some aspects of my using Facebook we're having a disagreeable effect on me. This realisation forced me to re evaluate and change my perception and use of social media. It is a well researched and documented fact that Facebook and other such portals can have a negative effect on people's mental well being. Gaining some objectivity has allowed me to identify how it affects not only me, but some of the other people who use it.

False Consensus

Anyone who has done searches on a number of different peoples machines will know that they can each return different results. With the continuing development of its algorithms, Facebook is delivering  content that is ever more tailored to your viewpoints. Without balanced information from other sources, this can sometimes lead to a biased viewpoint. I sometimes see posts and comments that exhibit a rather distorted or even totally incorrect view of photography as a whole. Yet from following some of the groups, I can totally understand how such misconceptions can come about. Photography is a huge far ranging subject that is best studied from an equally wide range of viewpoints. 

Self esteem. The grass is always greener.

One aspect that is widely recognised is social comparing. Most people's walls will contain numerous posts of people celebrating their successes, advances in their work, and their general good fortune, etc. It is often hard not to compare that with ones own life and work which might not be going as smoothly. Doing so can often bring about, or increase feelings of depression, anxiety and low self esteem.

Self vindication.

Another potential pitfall is the importance many people place on "likes" and the number of friends etc. Using these as an indicator of your success and development is fraught with problems. Likes especially, can be very misleading as they are a totally subjective viewpoint and possibly influenced by a huge range of unrelated factors. It is evidenced by the regular posts wondering why bad pictures can be swamped with likes, and good pictures get overlooked. The original posters social standing, circle of friends, the liker's knowledge of photography and their desire please the poster etc, can all contribute to undermine the "like" as a reliable indicator of quality. However some users seem to place huge importance on them, to the point of seemingly begging for them, and/or becoming despondent when they are not received. Likes and followers are very nice to get, but it's important to realise it's not always a solid foundation to build your self esteem and confidence around. For example Hitler was liked and followed by millions and things did not end so well for him! LOL

I can see these and other factors at work in various interactions on Facebook and was prone to some of them myself. However I'm pleased to say that now I have recognised its limitations, and which of its aspects should not be important to me, my use of Facebook has become a more rewarding and less frustrating undertaking.

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