Instagram is reportedly testing a feature that will allow you to send direct messages through its desktop version, and not just via the mobile app. It was recently spotted by one of the users and it can be great news for all of you who find it annoying and limiting to send DMs only through the mobile app.
Don’t let social media ruin your photography
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I’m at a Starbucks in Hanoi, typically it’s a peaceful location where I can write and think, but today it’s overrun with young people smoking cigarettes, occasionally smiling and laughing, but mostly consumed with their phones browsing Instagram and taking selfies to reload their feed with an annoyed older man in their background typing away.
This social media narcissism isn’t a scene unique to Vietnam by any means, it’s everywhere in the world. At 40 years-old I’m ashamed to admit it, but I can be slightly guilty of spending too much time on my phone. However, in the past few years I’m more apt to reading a book rather than aimlessly browsing my phone and it feels damn good.
A quick tip to increase your discoverability on Instagram
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If you’re a photographer, Instagram is one of the most popular ways to put your work out there. But it’s not that easy to get discovered and noticed among hundreds of millions of users. Certainly, there are some ways to grow your audience organically, and we’ve covered some of them before. But in this video, photographer Walid Azami teaches you one more trick to boost your SEO within Instagram and search engines.
A hotel chain offers “Instagram sitter” to post photos for you
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If it isn’t on Instagram, it’s like it didn’t happen. When you travel, you gotta make the photos perfect, avoid clichés, and show everyone how much fun you’re having. I mean, the struggle is real, guys! To help you relax and enjoy the vacation, Ibis hotels in Switzerland offers “Social Media Sitter” who will take the pressure off of you and post to Instagram on your behalf.
Social media is ruining photography
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In the U.S. and most industrialized nations, we have a collective infatuation with technology but a poor understanding of its effects – both intended and unintended. We love asking Siri to play our favorite song, but don’t fully consider the privacy implications of allowing the device to persistently listen to us. We love the convenience of smartphones, so much so that we’re willing to engage in destructive behavior like texting while driving. And we love the connectedness of social media, but are virtually powerless to the dopamine-dependent culture of likes and comments.
One Million Reasons Unsplash Is A Disaster For Photographers & Designers
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We recently featured an article by photographer Samuel Zeller touting the virtues of giving away photography on Unsplash for free: I’ve Been Sharing My Photography For Free On Unsplash for the Past 4 Years, Here’s What I Found.
I have to admit, I was really confused – why would any legit photographer ever consider giving away their work for free – or as Unsplash puts it:
Download free (do whatever you want) high-resolution photos.
I am also very confused why any designer would risk significant legal liability by using an image from Unsplash without a model release, property release or trade mark release.
So I decided to check out Unsplash for myself – here is what I found…
I’ve been sharing my photography for free on Unsplash for the past 4 years, here’s what I found
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What is Unsplash?
It’s a website where photographers can share high resolution images, make them publicly available for everyone for free even for commercial use. It was created in May 2013 by Stephanie Liverani, Mikael Cho and Luke Chesser in Montreal, Canada.
Four months after creation they hit one million total downloads, and a year after they had more than a million downloads per month.
Now there’s 400’000+ high resolution images hosted on Unsplash which are shared by 65’000+ photographers from all around the world.
Last month 2400 photographers joined Unsplash and shared 25’000 new images (not just snapshots, some really good photography).
Here’s a few examples below:
Public outraged with Serbian doctors taking selfies during a surgery
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Okay, I think the selfie-craze has gone too far. The doctors at Clinical Center in Niš, Serbia have recently shocked the public with a set of selfies taken in the middle of a surgery. They proudly posted the photos on their Instagram accounts and caused a massive public outrage on social networks.
Instagram now shows you “recommended posts” from people you don’t follow
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After testing a new “Recommended for You” feature, Instagram is now rolling it out globally. From now on, Instagram’s algorithm will pick the posts you might like, and they’ll be in your feed even though you don’t follow these accounts.
Want your nude photos off social media? Send those photos to Facebook
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Keeping photos off social networks by sending them to a social network? Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Well, as crazy as it may sound, this is an attempt from Facebook and an Australian government agency to prevent sharing sensitive images without the subject’s permission. The goal is to take action before the nude images are posted online instead of taking them down after they’re already published. All you need to do is send nudes via Facebook… to yourself.
