The Art & Folly of Visual Social Media

Presented by

Lisa Kaslyn, Principal & Creative Strategist

THE ART & FOLLY OF VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA

Photo: (cc) TheInvisibleWombat via Flickr

TONIGHT’S AGENDA• The rise in visual social media

• Getting your hands on sweet eye-candy

• Beware the copyright - What is Fair Use? Can you be sued?

• A case study

• So, what’s the answer? How can we post great visuals without the fear of infringement?

• Social media mavens have all the fun because everyone “likes” them

• Picking “likeable” images

• Resources

(cc) Matthew Bordignon via Flickr

THE RISE OF VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA

“…Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest have ushered in visual marketing as the breakout trend for 2012.”

-- Fast Company, August 2012

Articles with pictures generate 47% more click-thru activity – Curata study

On Facebook, videos are shared 12x more than links and text

posts combined and photos are “liked” 2x more than text updates

– Infographic by M Booth

“As more people engage with social media via smartphones, they’re discovering that taking a picture “on the go” using a high resolution phone is much less tedious than typing out a status update on a two-inch keyboard.”-- Fast Company, August 2012

…AND DON’T FORGET THE NEW TWITTER HEADER : )

Two weeks ago, Twitter debuted the new Twitter profile, featuring a more

eye-catching header image

SO, WHERE DO YOU GO FOR THE SWEETEST EYE CANDY?

(cc) Juushika Redgrave via Flickr

THERE ARE GAZILLIONS OF PHOTO SOURCES, BUT…• You can’t just use someone’s art if they have not given you

permission to do so

Photo (cc) Curtis Gregory Perry Via Flickr

FAIR USE, FOR REUSE AND WHAT’S THE USE!• What is Fair Use?

Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include: commentary, search engines, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship…

• Case Study: How a Romance Writer had her Heart Broken After Using a Copyrighted Image on her Popular Blog - Roni Loren’s Tell-All

http://www.roniloren.com/blog/2012/7/20/bloggers-beware-you-can-get-sued-for-using-pics-on-your-blog.html

HERE’S THE GIST OF WHAT RONI LEARNED THE HARD WAY ABOUT FAIR USE…

It DOESN'T MATTER...

• if you link back to the source and list the photographer's name

• if the picture is not full-sized (only thumbnail size is okay)

• if you did it innocently

• if your site is non-commercial and you made no money from the use of the photo

• if you didn't claim the photo was yours

• if you've added commentary in addition to having the pic in the post

• if the picture is embedded and not saved on your server

• if you have a disclaimer on your site.

• if you immediately take down a pic if someone sends you a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice

NONE OF THE ABOVE releases you from liability . You are violating copyright if you have not gotten express PERMISSION from the copyright holder (or are using pics that are public domain, creative commons, etc.).

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. If you've been using images without approval from the internet on your blogs, know that you are probably violating copyright and could be sued for it

2. Search for photos that are approved for use

• Creative Commons licensed pics, Wikimedia Commons , photos in the public domain and/or subscribe to a stock photo site -- This can be pricey up front but then you have access all year.

3. Take your own photos and share the love

4. Use sites like Pinterest and Tumblr with caution

5. Assume that something is copyrighted until proven otherwise

Note: This information is not intended as legal advice.

VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA MAVENS HAVE ALL THE FUN BECAUSE EVERYONE “LIKES” THEM…

PICKING “LIKEABLE” IMAGES

1. Know your audience

2. Stay on top of the news and trends inside and outside your industry to tap into mainstream topics that everyone can react to

3. Employ tools that will help tell a story graphically – think infographic

4. It’s OK to use Pinterest, Tumblr, Google Image Search, etc., to get inspiration for that perfect picture…use keywords that describe what you found in Creative Commons. That’ll help you home in on what you’re looking for

RESOURCES

• Copyright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

• Creative Commons http://search.creativecommons.org/ + http://meghanward.com/blog/2012/06/21/where-to-get-photos-for-your-blog/

• Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_page

• iStockPhoto http://www.istockphoto.com/

• PhotoSpin https://www.photospin.com/Default.asp?

• Piktochart http://piktochart.com/

• Public Domain Image Resources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources

Twitter: @KashenFacebook: facebook.com/lisa.kaslynLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kaslyn Pinterest: pinterest.com/seoflack/Google+: Lisa KaslynWebsite: ProsperComm.com; [email protected]

Thank you!