They often call the business world the “rat race.” The concept is that we are all like rats on a spinning wheel— trying to earn more money, trying to earn more advancements, trying to work our way up the “corporate ladder.” But the faster we run, the faster the wheel turns, and sooner or later we will become exhausted and just burn out.
I think we can also relate to this as a “photographic rat race” — in which we are all constantly trying to battle each other in terms of photography in social media. We are trying to constantly out-do one another; trying to get more likes, more followers, more comments, and more “domination” on social media.
But no matter how talented we are, there will always be someone with more likes or followers than us.
Furthermore, I know personally that I used to have a lot of stress and anxiety worrying about what “daily photo” I would upload. I remember I was having dinner with Cindy, and instead of concentrating on our converstaion, I was wondering to myself, “I wonder what photo I should upload to Instagram today?”
The problem with social media is that we are trying to “feed the beast”. I feel a lot of this stems from fear— fear that we will be forgotten, fear that nobody will think we are good photographers— a lot of this stems from insecurity, and trying to follow what everyone else is doing on social media.
Take a break
What happens when you take a break from social media?
For me personally, it meant that I enjoyed the process of shooting more. I no longer had the anxiety of constantly having to “feed the beast” of social media of uploading at least one photo a day.
I think by taking a break from social media, I now have been able to focus on making photos that please me, rather than please random strangers on social media.
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If you didn’t share your photos on social media, would it really matter how good your camera’s image quality, lens sharpness, or what camera you shot it with?
If you no longer compare yourself to other photographers on social media, what would happen?
Take a break from social media and see what kind of doors this will open up for you.