The Dilemma of Social Media
Social media is one of those things that is incredibly easy to criticise while being surprisingly difficult to walk away from. It has the power to inspire and deflate in a very short space of time.
I try not to be too polarised in my own views. I still have my grandmother's voice in my head saying, “If you can't be anything else, boy, be an encourager.” So I certainly don't wish to be a source of negativity for others.
For photographers, travellers and creators, social media offers a wonderful opportunity to share our work, ideas and experiences with people we might otherwise never reach. But it also creates a dilemma: are we creating for ourselves, or increasingly for the algorithm?
One of the frustrations is seeing something you've put time and thought into receive very little engagement, while a much simpler or more provocative post can attract far more attention. It is difficult not to start asking, “What will perform?” rather than, “What do I actually want to say?”
That can quietly change the way we create. We start choosing subjects because they are likely to generate engagement, writing captions designed to encourage responses, and perhaps even questioning the value of something we genuinely enjoyed simply because it didn't perform well.
I don't want to go down that road. I'm not interested in clickbait or manufacturing controversy simply to get attention. I'd rather share an interesting photograph, tell the story behind it, explore a place, or write about something I've discovered. If it generates engagement, that's great. If it doesn't, perhaps it can still be worthwhile.
Maybe that's the balance we need with social media: use it as a window rather than a mirror. Share because something interests you, not simply because you think the algorithm will reward it — and without expecting a particular number of views or reactions.
After all, engagement is a useful measure of reach, but it isn't necessarily a measure of value.
