Images rule the internets!

Here’s four reasons why: 

1. We are visual. You can say we’re lazy. You can say our brains are more turned on by pretty pictures than they are by reading a pile of words. But whatever the reason, we love images. Why else would LOLCats thrive? Seriously, though, if you have some information, and you can wrangle it into something that is sharp and graphically pleasing, it will be seen and shared.

2. Certain sites cater to images. The most popular, fastest-growing social media out there are Pinterest and Instagram: both sites entirely based on images. Even with Facebook: it’s now thought that Facebook is giving heavier weight to text-based status updates, but I still find that a good visual inspirational quote will get higher-than-average views.

3. Images make your stuff Pinnable: speaking of that rapidly-growing social network whose demographic is primarily women, if you don’t have images on your website or blog post, they are not Pinnable, because Pinterest needs an image to anchor it to the blog post. I make it rule to have a graphic element in every blog post I write, because I am finding that, personally, I am using bookmarking sites like Delicious less and less, and Pinterest, more and more. It’s frustrating when I can’t pin a blog post because there is no image associated with the post. If you need to create your own graphics, check out PicMonkey. Find me on Pinterest at pinterest.com/rebeccacoleman.

4. Images offer your fans an intimate look: I love Instagram. Partly I love it because of the stunning talent and beautiful photography. But I also love it because I get to follow my heros or actors that I respect, and they offer me an inside look at their lives I could have never had another way.  I use Instagram for this same reason to interact with my fans. BTW, if you are on Instagram, you can find me at instagram.com/rebeccacoleman.

What’s your favourite image-based social network?