Making Changes

A look at what’s planned for the new year … and why

When I became a freelancer, I decided to split my time between writing/editing and photography. The former was my professional expertise; the latter was my exploration.

At the time, Facebook was the dominant form of social media, with Twitter and LinkedIn serving as necessary — though seemingly nonessential — tools for the type of work I do. I appreciated that Facebook allowed me to share images as they were meant to be seen, not in some square format on a cellphone, and it took me some time to join the Instagram universe.

This worked pretty well for a time as I built a large following on my Facebook photography page. The same held true for both LinkedIn, although passively, and Instagram when I finally joined that medium as a business in 2016. I never gained nor courted much traction on Twitter, which seemed ill-suited to me long before it was dominated by you know who and later acquired by another twit who lives on the fringe.

For seven years, I posted every day to my Facebook business page. Some were better than others. Some prompted feedback. A few resulted in sales. But the latter, while nice, was not necessarily my intention. I thought of this page as the “social” part of social media; instead, I wanted potential clients and followers to interact with me while seeing the variety of services I could provide.

At some point around 2019, my reach — and the feedback — started to decline as the “Daily Photo” posts were choked by an algorithm designed to make my business purchase advertising. How else can you explain having 2.9K followers and reaching less than 200 of them on a consistent basis? (And in case you think I’m just blaming Facebook, the same happens on Instagram and LinkedIn, too.)

Starting ‘52 Weeks’

In 2020, when the world came to a halt, I stopped posting the Daily Photos. The time wasn’t worth the investment, and I was in no position (financially or emotionally) to invest in advertising on something that had no viable or even visible returns.

For a time, I replaced the photos with a “Social Distancing Diary,” a written and visual account of life during the pandemic, and posted entries to Facebook and Instagram. But soon the algorithm caught on, and the relentless “You can reach 800 people for only $9” ads began again on both Meta platforms.

Since coming to Substack, I’ve found myself pulling away from Facebook and Instagram, largely because those platforms are all about influencers and reels and money. (Like many of you, I continue to passively check both, and Facebook is still great on birthdays.) But with some exceptions, most of my creative attention and focus has been on ways to improve my Substack page and your experience as subscribers.

Problem #1: Except for themed “Visual Stories,” I haven’t found a good way on Substack to consistently share my photography. Because you read my work through email or the Substack app — if you don’t have it, download it — I worry about bombarding your inboxes with too much content day to day.

Problem #2: I miss the consistency of sharing photos from an ever-bulging archive and getting feedback from others. Having a “Daily Photo” commitment required me to be diligent in keeping up with it and served as a nudge to have my camera with me all the time. In other words, that commitment fueled my creativity.

As part of my refocus — see last week’s “Stuck in Time” entry — I’ve decided to launch a “52 Weeks” series here on Substack. Each Saturday, you’ll get a post with seven of my photos and short captions. I’m not planning themed posts — those will remain in the occasional “Visual Stories” section — but instead sharing the images that sparked (and continue to spark) my interest in this medium.

Stuck in Time

More Plans, New Model

So what else is ahead in 2024? I hope to increase my reach on this platform while continuing to write on various topics of interest:

• Family, parenting, grandparenting, and other memoir style pieces.

• Music essays, photos, and reviews that spinoff from work I’ve done and hope to continue to do with Americana Highways, a great web publication I’ve worked for periodically over the past five years.

• Archived and new Q&A interviews that I call “Conversations.”

• And more in-depth essays with a personal twist on important topics, primarily K-12 education and how history shapes and influences us.

My plan is to post three to five of these essays each month, plus the “52 Weeks” project on Saturdays.

Also, after much thought and consideration, I’m also launching a different subscription model for “Our Reality Show.” If you like and appreciate my work, consider making a small donation to support it.

This is the first time I’ve taken this step. As a writer/photographer, creating and sharing content is my life’s calling — “embedded in my DNA,” as I’ve referred to it many times — so I’ve never asked anyone to pay for it. On the other hand, creating pieces of value takes a lot of time, effort, and energy. As a contract-for-hire employee subject to the needs and whims of the freelance world, it would be nice to have an additional revenue stream for that work.

The compromise I ultimately came to is simple. Any new or current subscribers will continue to get all of the content here for free. If you don’t have the financial means for a paid subscription, please continue to read, enjoy, and comment because that means the world to me.

If you do, please consider a small monthly or annual donation (founding memberships also are available). In return, I promise to “pay it forward” by donating 25% of all subscription revenue to worthy causes and will report those donations back to you.

As always, thank you for supporting “Our Reality Show.” Here’s to a great 2024.