1. Dirk Singer
http://about.me/
dirktherabbit
Twitter - @dirktherabbit
thefiverrproject.tumblr.com
social photography and video
How online communication is becoming visual
@dirktherabbit #iceefest

2. I like stats
(liesdamnedliesstatistics.com)
I’m a Rabbit
I take pictures with my phone
(London ambassador EyeEm)
three things about me
more about visual social media - 8mpx.co.uk. On social media - @dirktherabbit

3. what am I going to
talk about today?
• The evolution of the visual web,
what's the background to all this,
and where is the evidence that all
this is important
• The visual social media universe
• A look at a few social photo
networks that should be on your
radar
• What should you do next?

4. "With cameras as pervasive as they are,
there is no such thing really as professional
photographers, when everything is
professional photographers. Certainly
there is varying levels of skill..."
Marissa Meyer, Yahoo!
(And Flickr / Tumblr) boss
professional photographers RIP?

5. 2005
2013
everyone is a photographer?

6. The Chicago Sun-Times has fired its
photo department....and
introduced mandatory iPhone
photography training for
journalists
so if Marissa Meyer is right, why not replace your
photographers with iPhones?

7. smartphone adoption &
evolution +
the social media
revolution =
"the visual web"
let's talk about why this has happened

8. the rise of the smartphone
Most EU5 mobile phones are now
smartphones
Making a phone call is only the 5th most
popular activity on a phone

9. Changing human
development
Our gateway to the
outside world
smartphones are...
The way we express
ourselves

10. the consequences of phones being our new 'canvass'

11. "The top end camera we think this will survive
- but the point and
shoot lower end model
will not survive in the
future"
Keitaro So, Fujifilm
Digital camera shipments out of
Japan dropped 42% last year,
with entry level cameras
particularly hard hit
1 - the point and shoot camera: going the way of
the (print) newspaper, VHS, LP.....

12. 27,800 photos are uploaded to Instagram
every minute
208,000 photos are uploaded to Facebook
every minute - six billion per month
By comparison, Flickr has had eight billion
photos during its whole lifespan
Yahoo! has claimed that 880 billion photos
will be taken in 2014
!
2 - the photo explosion

13. • 20% of the photos taken every
day end up on Facebook
• In November 2011, 20% of
(Facebook) news feed stories
were photos, now its 50% http://is.gd/YjlyUN
3 - that now means online, we communicate through
pictures

14. Posts on Facebook that include an
album, picture or video increase
engagement by 180%, 120% and
100%
Retailers that use user-generated
images from Instagram on their
websites, see an increased
conversion rate of 5%+
4 - people respond to images over words

15. 5 - photo sharing is now photo broadcasting,
with its own social media
Photo-sharing
Story-telling and curation
Short form video / gifs
Longer form video

16. take
filter
(I use camera+ but
snapseed is free)
share
photo-sharing in its simplest form

17. photo-sharing platforms, 3 to consider

18. instagram

19. instagram
• Now owned by Facebook
• An A-List network, everyone should
have a presence
• A year ago 30 million users, now
well over 100 million
• Point, smartphone click, filter,
upload, share
• Elements of Facebook creeping in,
but best thought of as a visual
twitter (e.g. @ and #)
• An active community and super-fans

20. instagram in Romania

21. eyeem

22. eyeem
• Part of the “Silicon Allee” tech scene
in Berlin
• iOS, Android and Windows Mobile
• Among the main photo networks,
the biggest competitor to Instagram,
but perhaps 1/25th of the size
• Like German competitor Tadaa, sells
itself on quality
• Photos grouped into ‘albums’
• Very willing to work with brands
• Potential to work with a network of
100 ambassadors (includes
Bucharest), to organise photo-walks

23. flickr

24. flickr
• The original photo-sharing network
• Used to be a staple by brands
(create an account, host your
corporate pics), but now often
overlooked
• Revamped earlier this year as part
of Yahoo! making image based
content more of a priority
(arguably Tumblr is part of the
trend)
• Has meet-ups, just like Instagram
and EyeEm
• Has groups, under any subject area
imaginable
• Like other IG-competitors, content
is generally of a higher quality

25. in Romania?

26. photo-sharing
networks now
have social
media
maturity.
They have:
so many social networks - how do I know they
will be around in a year?

27. Instagram has 150+
million active users.
BUT - critical mass
isn't the same as the
big number
a critical mass of users

28. #findingbeautyoutofshit
@brandonturner80
#powerlineporn
@chrysti
a distinct sub-culture and 'language'
#sneakycommutershot
@linalemontree

29. 25+ million images uploaded on Instagram
or - just look at the selfie

30. the selfie in advertising

31. @brandonturner80
its own influencers

32. in Romania...

33. @cloclath
what should you do now?

34. Think your business
isn't visual? It almost
certainly is. Start with
people. Even better get other people to tell
your story for you
1 - tell your story

35. 2 - use hash-tags to
provide prompts
• People are going to post anyway,
the first step to make sense of
what they are saying and to
channel the activity is the hash-tag
• Twitter (+ Vine) and Instagram
already use them
• Publish on your marketing material
and on pre event social media
• Use it with physical prompts
• Make it easy to remember and
short
• Use an album name for EyeEm

36. 3 - invite the superfans to your event
• Social photography, social video
now have their own influencers.
They are often not one and the
same as your A-list of bloggers
• Find out who they are, start
inviting them to events to take
photos
• Court them early. Right now,
working with them will be low cost.
That will change

37. 4 - build it into your
social media policy
• We all work with people - people
do stupid things sometimes. If
someone in a customer facing role
acts in a strange or erratic way,
chances are it will be captured on
photo / video
• The flip-side of that, have a
sensible mobile photo policy when
it comes to members of the public
• A flat 'no' to taking and sharing
photos is unrealistic and counterproductive - they are going to take
photos anyway, why not channel
it?

38. finally - the barrier to entry doesn't have to be high and
complicated

39. My visual social
media blog - http://
www.8mpx.co.uk
!
Email me dirk@8mpx.co.uk
thank you for listening!