Although an article published in the Journal of Computers in Human Behavior didn’t prove the exact correlation between narcissism and social media, it certainly picked up on how social media enhances and possibly contributes to narcissism.

“Watch Me” is what we say to our parents when we are small children. While later, as teenagers or adults, we are not trying to get mom and dad’s attention, many of us are trying to get the rest of the world to pay attention.

If you post something on Facebook, you often feel better that people are paying attention to the number of likes and the type of likes you get.

Even better than likes is positive feedback by comments.

There is another way you can use social media, and one of the best examples I can give is Humans of NY.

Brandon Stanton is the founder of HONY. Initially, he was going to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers. It was mainly about his love of photography and wanting to share his photos of people.

Somewhere along the way, he started interviewing people. At first, he was sharing little interesting quotes with the photos.

Today Stanton is interviewing most of the subjects and “peeling the onion,” as we like to say when you interview someone and get their story.

In an article on Open Eye Creative, they reported:

“He partnered with Tumblr to raise more than $300K for Hurricane Sandy victims. He helped raise more than $1 million for a Brooklyn school after one of the students appeared on his blog. He reportedly raised more than $5 million for philanthropic projects in 2015.”

Today HONY has around 20 million followers through its website, Instagram and Twitter.

“It’s a dialogue, not a monologue, and some people don’t understand that. Social media is more like a telephone than a television.”

Amy Jo Martin, author of Renegades Write The Rules

Make Social Media About Others

I think professional photographers would grow their following by sharing stories of the people they photograph. Be sure your post focuses on them and not you. Do all you can to remove yourself from the center.

Brandon Stanton’s three suggestions for better stories also is a great place to start. Sooner or later, you will find your style for telling stories of the people you meet.

Stanton’s Questions

1. Get to the heart of it
2. Ask one question at a time
3. Seek out the unexpected

Here is a good article that goes deeper to learn more about those questions.

Why does he have such a following?

This video is an excellent example of how he connects with the audience.

First Others & Then You!!!!

Here is another exciting thing that research is showing us. People want to know more when you share great content with others. They want you to take them backstage. This is where you can share a little about your experience in meeting this person.

Here is the strange thing, if you were only to share your experience, the number of followers would be drastically smaller. However, if you always lead with others and then share something behind the story and photo, then your numbers will do the opposite. They will soar.

Now just sharing about others, well, that works, but the combination works best.

This would be a great Instagram post. Today it would also be great to follow up with another photo and the scenes peek into the picture.

When I post these to my Instagram account, the second photo might get more comments. I hope you notice that I am always trying to help others get better with their photography. I am not saying look at how great I am, just like my photos.

I encourage you to make Social Media a way to create community and inspire others. When you do this, you will be even more fulfilled than if you made it all about you.

“When I hear people debate the ROI of social media? It makes me remember why so many businesses fail. Most businesses are not playing the marathon. They’re playing the sprint. They’re not worried about lifetime value and retention. They’re worried about short-term goals.”

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia

Tagged : #portraits / making an impact / Photography / social media