Marc Benton dot Com

Photography on Twitter

When you’re not being a shutterbug, do you tweet on Twitter?  Does that question even make sense to you?  If not then maybe you should check it out.  Twitter is a 140 character at a time microblogging service that is mainly about building relationships and sharing resources.  There have been hundreds and probably thousands of articles written on the web about the whatnot’s of Twitter.  Instead of me trying to add to the chaff I’ll suggest a Google search or a visit to the Twitter FAQ to find out more about the service.

I’m seeing more and more conversations about photography in my stream.  It has quickly become a valued source of information about gear, techniques and resources.  If you are looking to connect with photographers around the country, and even around the world, then consider joining me on Twitter.  Here is some information to get you started.

My favorite photography Twitter’rs

My contact list is ever growing on Twitter but these are the people I have connected with most and received the best information from:

• @dilvie – Photographer and entrepreneur.  Owner of http://dilvie.com/.  Eric has been a big help to me from time to time with questions I’ve had.
• @TheLightroomLab – Tips, tricks, tutorials, and more for photographers using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. In real life, he’s Scott Rouse and can be found at http://thelightroomlab.com.
• @jjgardner3 – Owner of http://www.eastcoastblogging.com
• @shashib – social media guru at networks solutions and amateur photographer
  
• @shawnduffy – An IT professional trying to break into the photography business. Shawn also owns http://blog.sduffyphotography.com/
  
• @neilcreek – An aussie photographer with a blog
• @photojojo – Amit, Kelly, and Susan from http://photojojo.com/
  
• @digitalps – Owners of http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/.  I’m a big fan of their blog but their Twitter stream is just links to articles on their site.  You’d be just as well off by adding their RSS feed.  While I love their site, IMO they fail at Twitter, with over 1,500 followers they only follow one back.

Hashtags

Neil Creek posted an article on Digital Photography School suggesting the use of hashtags for photography tweets.  A hashtag is a word preceeded by # that is used to tag postings about a certain subject matter.  This allows others to search the Twitter stream for these subjects, such as photography tweets. As you can guess, the more people that use a standard set of hashtags improves the conversations and knowledge shareing.

Here are the hashtags proposed by Neil for Photograpy:

#photog – This hashtag can be used for any general photography discussion. #photography is too long for the 140 Twitter limit.

#photogs – Discussion of particular photographers can be hashtagged in this way.

#photo – Already seeing a fair bit of use, this hashtag can be used when linking to a photo in your tweet.

#camera – Discussion of camera gear and equipment of all kinds can be identified with this hashtag.

I’ve started using these and have noticed an increasing number of Tweeters doing the same.  Consider subscribing to the RSS feed of the search link I listed above to make sure you don’t miss anything of interest.

If you’re on Twitter feel free to connect with me at @marcbenton.

Happy Tweeting!

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