As a photographer, have you quit social media? If so, how has things changed for you?

It got to the point where every portrait photographer looked like they got their skills for watching YouTubers like Manny Ortiz and Jessica kobeissi. Overly sharpened and overly processed pics, everyone only chasing bokeh. It felt like photography lost it's soul and everything was about likes and becoming an influencer.

Photos became about pixel peeping and if everything wasn't perfect in a photo, then it's not a good photo.

I quit Instagram in February of this year at around 4k followers. I could see that growth wasn't going to happen unless I ditched out cash for marketing.

I decided to work on my own platform with a private community. A place to just share photos, with no likes enabled, no politics, no memes. Just straight up photography and photography talk.

I think that social media stifles creativity because you're always going to be influenced by certain trends and flavors of the month.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.