Finding my way in social media, especially since I added running a business into the mix, hasn’t been simple. It has felt like a big mix of questions.
How do I share my work without feeling like I’m selling out or over promoting?
How do I keep up with all these types of social media (which are all quite different)?
How do I find a way to share in social media that really feels like it is my voice?
Who’s work do I excitedly click as soon as it appears in my social media and where can I find more folks like them?
How do I honour the urge to have space to be me, the unguarded me?
How can I stop feeling so overwhelmed by all things related to social media?
I feel like I’m in the middle of figuring out some of those questions, still a few pieces to find the right spot for in the puzzle. Of course, knowing that by the time I figure them out, social media will be continuing its amazing evolution and there will be new questions.
Some days though, I have to pause and ground myself from any overwhelm or frustration by the fact that this evolution of social media is kind of amazing. Seeing the way things have changed even in the last 5 years and how it is allowing this gal on the west coast of Canada to encourage people around the world to use their cameras to cultivate more self-love and compassion. I need to remember in my social-media-frustration moments, that being an active part of this ever evolving world of online connection is actually kind of amazing.
Then on the other hand, as an introvert, it is totally unsustainable to try to rock all kinds of social media. Each time something new comes up I join in and get excited and then overwhelmed and unable to keep up with it all. So over the last year I’ve really been honing in on what my social media plan is and how to rock social media in a way that feels energizing, inspiring and makes me want to share in those spaces!
Here are a few of the things I’m weaving together as my Social Media Philosophy:
Let Yourself Shine
Quite honestly this has been the hardest part. As I started dabbling in social media, especially once I started sharing about my business, I will confess I felt like I was intruding on people’s inboxes, twitter feeds or facebook feeds. I didn’t want to overwhelm them with promoting my work but at the same time, as people joined me in those spaces they were there to connect with me inspired by my business.
For most of us, sharing on social media isn’t coming from a place of ego. Its coming from the fact that we are creating work that we are proud of be it something in an etsy shop, an e-course or a blog post we just poured our heart into. Sometimes I have to ask myself in relationship to social media : Are you going to hide your light or shine it today? Then it is about finding a way to share it that feels right for us and that does indeed connect to the people we’d hope will resonate with our work, right?
Are you letting yourself shine in social media or hiding your light?
What Lights You Up?
This is at the core of my social media philosophy and deciding which mediums to share in. For any of us sharing our work online, it can feel like we need to spread the word everywhere, that we aren’t doing enough if we aren’t everywhere (or anywhere). Yet when I sit down and think about this question….what social media tools light me up and make me want to share there, its totally clear. The list is short too. Instagram, Pinterest (once I activated part 4 of this post…curate your spaces) and my Public Facebook Page, which I try to treat as though it were my personal one and share most everything there.
I also can’t help but notice that the places that don’t light me up, its probably pretty clear to the folks following me there too. Truthfully the ones that fall into this category are Google +, Twitter, my personal Facebook page (it doesn’t light me up only because it is where I am most craving to create some personal space). After a long time of guilting myself about not posting there, I’m finally letting myself off the hook and focusing in on the mediums of social media that feel energizing and inspiring and trusting that those are the places I’m meant to share.
What types of social media light you up?
Live Your Work
Being a photographer, its natural to take photos and share them in social media and of course benefits spreading the word about my business, but alongside that it gives me a chance to practice what I preach! Teaching self-portrait classes & self-love focused work, it feels important to live my work, to show up in spaces of vulnerability and bravery as I navigate the world of being my own beloved too. This has become more and more of a focus of my social media philosophy as it allows me to show up in my own work and process while at the same time hopefully inviting people to get intrigued and inspired by the work and the message!
I also then have a preference for social media spaces that highlight photos, the main one of course being Instagram! That is my happy place online where I feel like I can share these little moments of my day truthfully and also share the work I’m doing through living it. That truly is the primary place I share this as while Facebook does indeed highlight photos (and it is a great place to catch people’s eyes) they irk me with the way that they invite people to download your photo so I have a pretty clear boundary with Facebook about not sharing high quality files. Instagram saves the day again of course as it allows me to share photos to Facebook and sharing inspiring visuals through living my work!
I think this piece isn’t just for photographers too. How can you share the way you are living the core ideals of your work?
Curate, Curate, Curate!
One of the biggest awakening moments in social media for me is the other side of social media: what I consume of it. I don’t want to just go to these spaces to share my own work and disappear again. I want to connect, share, repost, comment. Yet, back to that introvert piece, so much of the time I spent on some social media felt wildly overwhelming. At a certain point I started to get really excited with the idea that we curate our influences. That we get to decide what types of posts come into our feeds…just like other people have the opportunity to do the same for us. So I started focusing in on ways to let those posts that really inspire me or folks who’s work really makes me want to click over to read it.
So, tell me…what is your Social Media Philosophy? Do some of these ideas resonate or do you have your own approach on navigating social media?
This post is part of a really cool project, the Social Media Consciousness Blog Hop. Head on over here to learn more about it and check out some of the other folks sharing their perspectives on Social Media.