THE KIT BOX, SOCIAL MEDIA AND A NEW WAY FORWARD…

From here on in, I intend to change the picture so that this is my primary portal for all of my work. Going forward I will be updating this page as regularly as I would my social media pages, only offering teasers on each of those, with links that bring you back here for the full story.

Morning everyone!

Over the last year or so, I’ve spent plenty of time and no little energy trying to work out how best to present my work, so that the widest group of modellers can see it and hopefully gain enough inspiration from my builds and what I write about them, to have a go for themselves. Much of that has been based not only around this page, but also around social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Within that time, it has become more and more apparent that the use of external, third-party platforms has not really worked how I would like it too, the vagaries of their algorithms, far from ensuring that everyone that I want to see them, does, ensures that only those that each chooses to inform, is offered images and updates as the weeks progress. It really is now time for a change.

There is no doubt that I, like many other modellers, have become accustomed to simply opening our phone or tablet and then scrolling through our favourite pages. It’s convenient, easy and needs little in the way of real interaction to make us feel as if we are seeing the bigger picture. Fact of the matter though: we are not. Newsfeeds often only show small chunks of updates and that means that if I plant something on either of my pages on Facebook for instance, you might see only a handful of them over the weeks, rather than every one. 

This issue is then exacerbated by algorithms that downgrade external links. I watch all of my updates very carefully, so can see how a post is performing, both on here and then on linked pages. Each time I post on here, that is then automatically dropped onto both Twitter and Facebook, so I don’t have to do anything else with it. I can then compare and contrast performance. Those linked updates fare far more poorly than if I was to drop an image, or a written update. Even using certain words, adds to the downgrade, so despite being something that I feel is important, I might only have a handful of interactions, rather than many more for something that is clean and free from any links.

Look, I get it, I really do. Third-party social media platforms are not there to help me: they are there to make money. Anything that takes away from that is seen as a negative to their business model and is thus, restricted. They don’t want all of their traffic to turn off the highway and end up at another destination. They want you ton remain where you are so that their adverts grant income for those platforms. Here stay with us, oh and by the way, how about this new tee-shirt that we are selling: nice, eh? That’s not some wild conspiracy theory, that’s simply a fact of life.

But of course that doesn’t help me.

I need to ensure that my work, modelmaking, that is my only source of income, works as well for me as possible. It’s no good me spending weeks building a model, days writing an article, or hours creating an update for this page, if no-one sees it! Sure, working for Doolittle, I’m salaried, and lots of modellers see what I do within the pages of Tamiya Model Magazine Internal and Model Airplane International, but I also create other material as well, so that is just as important in the grand scheme of things, where visibility creates interest, interest creates income. This is my job and for too long I’ve given away a huge amount of work for free; it’s now time to tip the balance more in my favour.

From here on in I intend to change the picture so that this is my primary portal for all of my online work. Going forward I will be updating this page as regularly as I would my social media pages, only offering teasers on each of those, with links that bring you back here for the full story. That way I can control who sees what and ensure that those who want to check out my models do so, because they have chosen to, rather than being guided in that direction thanks to a computer algorithm that I have no control over. If you are happy to see teasers of work online, those platforms will be fine; but if you want to see everything, this will be the place to come.

“But Spence, you’ll lose followers. Less people will see what you do!”. 

Yep, that will indeed be the case.

I, like everyone else, enjoy seeing the ‘likes’ rack-up as a post is dropped and that button is hit. But I have to now uncouple myself from that and work in an area where that’s not an accidental interaction, but rather one that is intentional. I will lose followers of that, there is no doubt. But as vast numbers on both of my Facebook pages, personal and work, never interact with me anyway, I really don’t think this will make much difference in the long-term. This all sounds rather brutal and dismissive and I apologise if it does: it’s certainly not meant that way. I’m just trying my best to work a path through the undergrowth of my day, so that I can enjoy the walk and you can enjoy following along.

Where does that leave you..?

Well, that’s actually going to be in your hands.

In the short-term, those of you already reading this will not be affected at all. You will either have dropped on this page thanks to an email notification, or via a link that you’ve seen. The email notifications happen because you have subscribed to keep you fully informed, exactly as you would be when an update drops into your feed on Facebook or Twitter. If that’s not the case, you are going to be in the hands on this third-parties who may or may not inform you on my work. Upshot? If you want to kept informed, please subscribe with your email and I will tell you every time I post something! If you choose not to do that, I fully understand. Not everyone wants to see my work cluttering up their in-box, but I hope that you will consider doing so, so that you can continue to follow this page and see what is going to posted on here, week in, week out. I’m easily forgotten, so a reminder now and then my well be a very good idea!

Longer-term, I’m also planning to develop this page into one that offers subscriber content. These will be hidden areas where projects will be completed, essays relayed and videos posted. Those of you happy to support my work with a small fee each month, will have access to these pages. Similar to Patreon, it will create another layer of worthwhile income that will not only allow me to continue with my work, but also develop areas on this page that you can feel personally invested in. There will also be bonuses and benefits to being a paid subscriber, but as of now, I haven’t worked out what they will be in full!

“But what about those that can’t afford to pay – what then?!”. 

The answer to that is that there will still be free material on her to enjoy, so you won’t miss out. In this day and age of credit lunches, rampant inflation and cost of living crisis’, I want no-one to feel left out, or under pressure to hand over money. You’ll just not see everything (or may not see completed updates until after patrons have hopefully enjoyed the material) but you will eventually have access to everything. Fear not, there will still be plenty to see!

Where does that leave me..?

Of course I won’t be leaving these platforms, as there is still plenty for me to see and interact with. I have no intention of living in shadow, sending myself off into self-imposed exile. I will still be there, will still see your work and will still enjoy the interaction. This is about how I am electing to reveal my own work and how that can be used as part of my day to day responsibilities. Nothing more, nothing less!

I hope that you understand my decision to move away from traditional social media as a primary outlet and into one that I can control, fully. If you have any thoughts on this, please drop a comment below. I read them all and pay attention to everything that you say. This is a very important development for me, so I really want to get it right and with your help, I will.

See you next time.