How do Photoshops go viral?
May 8, 2016 2:00 PM Subscribe
I had a taste of Internet-famous (if only to people who knew me) when both Snoop Dogg and Cheech and Chong reposted a Photoshop I did of a friend. I find I want more! What do you suggest I do with the Photoshops I make every once in a while to try to get them a broader audience?
Response by poster: Well, that's really the question. How do I put them out there? Where do I put them?
Right now I have a Mothers' Day 'shop and a pro-Bernie 'shop. They're on my Facebook. But that's it. I'm not looking for money or even proper attribution -- just eyeballs. What do I do?
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 2:41 PM on May 8, 2016
Right now I have a Mothers' Day 'shop and a pro-Bernie 'shop. They're on my Facebook. But that's it. I'm not looking for money or even proper attribution -- just eyeballs. What do I do?
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 2:41 PM on May 8, 2016
Try Twitter. Try joining some kind of forum where people talk about doing this sort of thing and/or where it would be okay to share this sort of thing. If you go with Twitter, you may benefit from reading up on hashtags. If you go with Twitter, you can also add your Twitter handle to your Metafilter profile to try to get a smidge more exposure.
You also might try reading "The Tipping Point."
You might find it useful to google terms like "black swan events" and "increase your luck surface." These are things that have been studied somewhat. There is still an element of chance, but marketers actually do have some idea of how to get good attention. It may be a mystery to your average person, but this is not entirely "just luck."
posted by Michele in California at 2:48 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
You also might try reading "The Tipping Point."
You might find it useful to google terms like "black swan events" and "increase your luck surface." These are things that have been studied somewhat. There is still an element of chance, but marketers actually do have some idea of how to get good attention. It may be a mystery to your average person, but this is not entirely "just luck."
posted by Michele in California at 2:48 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Twitter, Reddit, Imgur, 4chan, tumblr
posted by BungaDunga at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
Best answer: If it's pro-Bernie, definitely tweet it @ the official Bernie account, tag it with whatever tag Bernie supports seem to be using.
posted by BungaDunga at 2:51 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 2:51 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The art of going viral is in the strategic sharing.
On twitter you have to use the hashtags otherwise only people following will potentially see it (and not many of them (they are not paying 100% attention 100% of the time and a lot of them are bots or social media follower collectors hoping for follow backs).
On tumblr you need to use tags and throw it into reblogs of popular people.
Reddit you need to find the groups that will find it is funny and hope they upvote it.
Facebook isn't great for individuals because your reach will be poor. To succeed there you need to have a website that can be easily facebooked by others once your material actually goes viral.
You actually will want your own website regardless of how you try to share your memes because it will give you both tracking information for how successful your various strategies are and it will give the opportunity to build reputation (and some beer money if you run ads).
Oh and fuck 4chan. Going viral isn't worth the mental gonorrhea.
Look at how the major meme factories use social media, FunnyOrDie for example.
posted by srboisvert at 3:24 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
On twitter you have to use the hashtags otherwise only people following will potentially see it (and not many of them (they are not paying 100% attention 100% of the time and a lot of them are bots or social media follower collectors hoping for follow backs).
On tumblr you need to use tags and throw it into reblogs of popular people.
Reddit you need to find the groups that will find it is funny and hope they upvote it.
Facebook isn't great for individuals because your reach will be poor. To succeed there you need to have a website that can be easily facebooked by others once your material actually goes viral.
You actually will want your own website regardless of how you try to share your memes because it will give you both tracking information for how successful your various strategies are and it will give the opportunity to build reputation (and some beer money if you run ads).
Oh and fuck 4chan. Going viral isn't worth the mental gonorrhea.
Look at how the major meme factories use social media, FunnyOrDie for example.
posted by srboisvert at 3:24 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
First of all you watermark everything I hope? You should have 1 brand across all media and it should be easy to rememember.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:27 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:27 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Tumblr is great for your own content but the key to shop viral these day is either timeliness or originality and the former is much easier to accomplish by paying attention to what's being joked about on twitter or reddit or some other discussion forum. So being involved heavily there means you're able to leap in with a visual response to a situation as a reply where people are naturally disposed to appreciate it.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:41 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:41 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: OK! I just tweeted my Bernie 'shop -- if you want to see it, look up #notassimilated.
I didn't watermark it, because watermarks are the bane of my existence as a Photoshopper, and hey, I don't care about credit. Wish me luck!
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 4:06 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I didn't watermark it, because watermarks are the bane of my existence as a Photoshopper, and hey, I don't care about credit. Wish me luck!
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 4:06 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If you don't want to watermark your work - and I get that, it looks awful - at least embed your copyright info into each Photoshop file you release to the wild. It's in File - File Info. This area gives you fields for your name, the title of the work, and any other tags/descriptors of your choice. In the copyright field, include a copyright symbol © with the year and your name. Done!
posted by cartoonella at 3:58 AM on May 9, 2016
posted by cartoonella at 3:58 AM on May 9, 2016
Response by poster: One of my Photoshops DID go viral!!! Snoop Dogg reposted it. Thanks everybody!
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 7:10 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 7:10 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by Aleyn at 2:13 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]