Photography Gone Social

During the holidays, most of us get to spend a lot of time with family and friends, and a lot of that time includes catching up.  One common phrase I hear when home for the holidays is, “Why don’t I see any pictures of you anymore?” or, “Why are we even taking these?  It is not like we are going to see them anyway.” Instead of getting mad, my answer is: get online.  Kind of like the ultimatum Professor Kane presented to his mother, “Join Facebook if you want to see pictures of your grandchildren,” I am hoping that this season, I can convince my extended family to have no choice but to succumb to the online, digital reality of picture sharing.

Most people have moved away from developing pictures for a variety of reasons. Let’s take Facebook, for example.  In just a few easy steps, everyone from your high school friends to an aunt in Chicago can see pictures from your latest vacation.  It is incredibly convenient.  As long as you have your privacy settings adjusted to your liking, Facebook allows you to share photos with intended viewers only.  Due to sites like Facebook, instead of worrying about whether someone in the picture we just took was blinking, now our biggest worry is the tag-obsessed friend who snaps pictures every chance she gets and immediately uploads them.  I am sure we have all felt that feeling of panic upon receiving notification that our beloved picture queen has tagged yet another 17 unflattering photos of us.

But why else should everyone migrate to sharing photos online:

1) It saves time:

–       Online uploading gives you the ability to share pictures instantly (especially when posting straight from your mobile phone)

• Keeps picture sharing current and relevant
• Eliminates the waiting period of people asking for the pictures you took

2) It saves money:

–       No longer are you forced to pay for developing every picture you take, just to see how one or two came out

–       By posting pictures online, you completely eliminate the need for printing and mailing photos just for someone to see them.  If they have a personal favorite, they can order copies on their own.

3) Creates a more flexible viewing experience:

–       Most online sites and mobile apps allow you to view pictures in a variety of ways including thumbnail view, slideshow view or zooming in/out for more detail

4) Easy editing and ordering capabilities:

–       Along with uploading and sharing photos, many photo sharing sites, like Shutterfly, allow you to create, edit and design beautiful albums right on their site, creating a one-stop shop for all of your photography needs

–       Enables ordering 24 hours a day and in most cases, free shipping.  No more waiting until a store opens to place a picture printing order.

5) Social benefits

–       By sharing photos online, you have a forum for viewers to leave feedback

• Many photo-sharing apps track the view count of uploaded pictures, similar to Twitter, so you can monitor the popularity of a specific picture
• People also have the ability to comment or “like” a photo, enabling freeflowing conversation and taking full advantage of social media

I think that by far, it is one of the best industry shifts we have seen in media.  It is just unfortunate that some people have yet to jump on the bandwagon.

With that said, though, developing some pictures for grandma’s fridge would not hurt either, especially once you see the smile it puts on her face.  In order to satisfy my grandmother’s urge for pictures, I have been pretty successful in wrapping up some sort of photo-inspired gift for her every year including a family calendar, framed picture or even a photograph of her grandchildren put onto a mousepad.  While right now, the mousepad is only used to improve her solitaire and Mahjong skills, my hope is that pretty soon, she will be a whiz at Shutterfly too. 😉

What about you?  Do you experience the same nagging from your family when it comes to pictures?  Have you gotten them to start using photo-sharing sites/apps?  If so, which ones?