How Photographers Should Respond to TikTok Ban and Instagram
It’s been a busy few days in social media land. The US Supreme Court upheld its TikTok ban in the United States, coming into effect on January, Sunday 19th. And, in less dramatic news, Instagram changed its grid dimensions, sending photographers into a frenzy. So, what can you do?
The Impact of The TikTok Ban
The US TikTok ban is nothing more than a political move. Sadly, many photographers rely on the platform to raise brand awareness and run their photography business.
As of now, TikTok is no longer available and those making a living off the platform are going to feel it the most.
The move is evidence of how quickly governments and tech companies can destroy your business overnight. It highlights that photographers need to take more control over their content and how they grow their career.
Instagram’s latest update has switched the aspect ratio of the profile grid from 1:1 to 4:5.
This impacts photographers who previously posted landscape shots with white borders, as it now leaves an unappealing level of white space when viewing the grid.
Although many are frustrated, the new aspect ratio may benefit portrait photographers. @danginnmoves.
Although the impact of Instagram’s updates won’t destroy your photography business, it shows yet again how photographers are constantly needing to adapt to the unpredictability of the platform.
Solution to TikTok Ban
For complete control of your photography portfolio you should create a photography website.
You can showcase your images in any format you wish, and you don’t need to bow to constant updates.
It’s also extremely unlikely the United States government will have any interest in banning the best website builder for photographers.
Naturally, you’ll need to pivot your strategy for growing your brand. There won’t be millions of users already waiting at your new home for your photographs.
Thankfully, you can build it up just like you once had to build up your social media.
Photo blogging and SEO are your best bets. This involves writing content that targets a specific topic, like portrait photography (if you’re a portrait photographer).
Professional wedding photographer Kari Bjorn often speaks about the benefits of doing SEO on his website. In a post on Threads he noted almost 60% of traffic came from Google search - less than 5% came from social media.
On the topic of the TikTok ban he explained “The TikTok ban is a good reminder to photographers that your website is your most important real estate. Building a business on a 3rd party platform was never a good idea”.
Building Your Website
I imagine some of you may question how you can start building your website. The good news is it's much easier than you think…
Website builders take away the pain of coding, offering no-code software that lets you create a beautiful photography site in a couple of hours.
Made with FORMAT
For the past five years, I’ve personally used FORMAT. I love the minimalist photography templates as I feel they give more power to my photographs.
It’s very easy to use as well. I sat in a coffee shop and by the time I’d finished my third Latte, my website was ready to launch.
You can try it for yourself and enjoy a 14-day free trial when you sign up.
If you’re looking for a space to deliver your photographs to clients and sell prints, I’d take a look at Shootproof.
The platform doesn’t take a commission on prints sales and its client gallery features are amongst the best around. Check out my Shootproof review for more details.
Signing Off
If the TikTok ban and Instagram updates have taught us anything, it’s that relying solely on social media for photography can be anything from annoying to absolutely catastrophic.
It’s time to take back our control and stop being slaves to the ego driven demand for likes.
Instead, photographers should be more calculated in how they show their work to the world — our sanity and livelihood will be in a much better place if we do.
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