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MM is kinda dead?
Maybe it’s just me, but I swear back in like 2012-2016 I feel like the site was more busy. I have been offline for about a year or two, so I know part of what I’m seeing is from that. I haven’t been on consistently since you were only able to upload 15 photos without upgrading. But even on forums, the shout box....people seem to be less active. Could it be instagram? I know some people say becoming VIP gets you more exposure. I was VIP once and I guess I agree. But at the same time I feel like wether you’re VIP or not, you can run into gems on MM either way, it’s all about the search...and the universe  Thoughts? Jul 04 18 12:43 am Link Deadra Daye wrote: You hit the nail on the head there. Instagram is now the #1 powerhouse of social media for photographers and models. Facebook is still quite active with it's groups and events, but IG's format and mass appeal is a force to be reckoned with... Jul 04 18 01:11 am Link It's not dead, but it's coughing up blood. Jul 04 18 01:35 am Link I moved over to Instagram primarily, and shut down my ten year old MM account here at the end of last fall. It was the best thing I could have done for my modeling and photography work. I took some very constructive "time away" so to speak. As a model on MM, I hadn't been published since 2011, but that changed soon after joining IG. I was also able to start getting some shoots again from there, when it had become extremely rare to get any messages or contacts through MM - and when I did, the photographers had become unreliable, and often cancelled. IG had the social and creative atmosphere that existed here pre-2012. The community there is considerably friendlier toward traveling and income-earning models as well. I only opened a new account here for shit and giggles, and don't spend much time here anymore. I'm in the process of moving to Los Angeles (in a few more months), and will be modeling full-time for awhile again after that transition. I do really enjoy MM's "browse" feature that lets you sort photographers' active accounts based on regions. That's extremely handy. The MM photographers who've contacted me since I re-opened an account here (few and far between, as to be expected) have mostly used the email I have posted on my profile and reached out that way. It's probably the best approach now, because it alerts your smartphone when an email comes in. MM has not kept up with the rest of the social media world and can be very difficult to use on small handheld devices. The main issue I see with MM is that, over the years, it went from being a good place for working and traveling models (both full-time and serious hobbyists) to find well-paying gigs, constructive trade shoots and hosting for travel. It was the multi-tool in the traveling models' bag, that worked for pretty much everything. By the time I was doing some touring in 2014, I observed the general milieu of MM had gotten ... less serious. Instead of interacting with people driven to create their art, I interacted with more "casual hobbyists" who just wanted to "experiment" and play around with photography. It's hard to run a business when the people you work with don't care about it nearly as much as you do. That trend has held steady, and grown in fact. From the modeling perspective, there's a pressure now around MM to just "have fun," not try to build your own business and not take shooting seriously. It wasn't like that 8-10 years ago, when committing to certain shoots could literally make or break your next year of work. The pace was fast, and the opportunities plentiful if you pursued them. That is certainly still out there, but it's on other media, in other online venues. MM has a couple great features, but the multi-tool is rusty and the pliers won't unfold anymore when you need them. Jul 04 18 04:53 am Link With the ever changing technology of social media (and the means by which people communicate), Model Mayhem is looking more and more like a VCR. People are moving on to more fast paced interactive platforms. Jul 04 18 08:39 am Link Kinda dead? I used to come to the forums at least daily to learn, be entertained and laugh. Now I maybe check every two weeks, and I'll still see the same 10 or 12 threads from 2 weeks ago. The forums have definitely lost their spirit. The few remaining souls are much more restrained and uptight. I don't have a cure, but I can recognize the symptoms. Jul 04 18 09:18 am Link I still do not see an alternative to MM for photographers to cast models outside of agencies. While I have accounts in IG and FB the purposes of those apps are still geared toward social interaction and are not industry-centric. As a photographer I value MM as a resource on personal projects to cast models like no other site. Where else I get information on model's stats, comfort level, location, availability and have multiple photos of them at a glance. IG is for showing off. It is a competition for likes. For a model your audience here are not the photographers but fans. FB is a community interaction forum but is also limited to the scope on who is on a group and not far reaching. I am not a big fan of MM but for now it has to do. Jul 04 18 09:50 am Link i sent out 20+ friend requests in the past 2 weeks havent got any response back from any of them...seems only the casting messaging works... Jul 04 18 10:03 am Link Pinup Fantasies wrote: I was away for about a year, i found a lot of people that act like bullies though in the past that has not change, the people that exchange ideas and thoughts have mostly gone,, theres one poster here that does not fail to toot his own horn every post is about him.... Jul 04 18 10:08 am Link the lonely photographer wrote: I personally know six MM photographers who no longer post here because, as they claim, someone always attacks them no matter what they say. Jul 04 18 10:19 am Link Keith Moody wrote: make that seven Jul 04 18 10:26 am Link ...Its not you Jul 04 18 10:29 am Link Some factors I’ve seen: By requiring newer members to first be approved as a friend to email anyone, MM has made it difficult to book shoots. Other online platforms allow for easier communications. I know many photographers who left in response to biased forum moderation and policies. I know of others who have been banned, with no evidence they violated any MM policy. Ten years ago, I had many new models approach me for images for social media. Now selfies are easy and acceptable. Once purchased by IB, I think this place was doomed to decline. As a business model, IB has no incentive to encourage shoot bookings. If you read reviews and news stories of MM you will find many are not good. I think the whole SESTA/FOSTA thing has turned many off these type of sites in general. Things simply run their course. OMP declined years ago, Backpage is no more, Craigslist is on the decline, Hardly anyone today even remembers MySpace. Jul 04 18 10:32 am Link Keith Moody wrote: When entering the forums it seems like you've always got to cross the bridge under which the trolls live. Whenever a conversation is going well, out pops one of them with some smart ass remark and then defends it with "Get tougher skin" type replies when someone objects to them being a total ass. Jul 04 18 11:09 am Link Todd Meredith wrote: all of the above is true...there was a models photographers facebook page run by Ethan Ingram but I think he got sick of the BS that found its way from MM... Jul 04 18 11:34 am Link I tried instagram. I find it painful, I can't even imagine how to use it for finding suitable models. Facebook makes me sick to my stomach. Jul 04 18 12:12 pm Link Again, I am not a big fan of MM and it certainly could get better like everything else, but - - when I started using MM after a long absence in photography it proved to be a good tool in sourcing models,MUAs and stylists. Found out too that some members are flaky and some less serious on the industry. Still it gave me the door to these resources. That is the main use for MM. If you get offended by some members who just seem to want to put other members down then just do not deal with them. I will occasionally post and respond to some posts but not to get into a pissing battle with anybody, just voice my opinions. I see too where some will bait you to do just this. Jul 04 18 12:18 pm Link Deadra Daye wrote: Deadra, welcome back! Jul 04 18 12:31 pm Link Gary Davis wrote: Instagram is geared toward mobile devices. Desktop computers are not truly supported. Jul 04 18 12:36 pm Link Activity (along with membership) here has been diminishing for quite some time. I'm sure social media is part of the reason for the slowdown, but I suspect that new policies/structure/functionality and overall evolution of this website may be the main culprit. Jul 04 18 12:36 pm Link Both Alexandra & Abbit Photography hit the nail on the head. I joined nearly 12 years ago and back then this place was bursting with activity. A single casting call and I'd have six models booked for the weekend. The forums were a great place to ask questions. I learned so much from the people that used to be here. I had never even heard of a Pocket Wizard before joining MM and over the years I have purchased an army of those little gizmos. The people on these forums guided me when I made my very first DSLR purchase and helped me with lenses as well. Over time I was even able to contribute knowledge to this community. The forums were also hilarious. Nearly every day there was at least one epic thread going on and even checking the list of users who had been brigged was entertaining. When this site started MySpace was all the rage. Facebook was just beginning to open itself to the public and even YouTube was new. Internet Brands acquired Model Mayhem but it is clear they did not anticipate the impact of social media or user trends. Internet Bands has failed to make a Model Mayhem app or even a mobile friendly site. They made it more difficult to send messages to each other (or even put some messaging abilities behind a paywall) while Instagram lets you do this easily and for free. Finally, internet message boards like these have lost popularity because apps like Discord and Line have real time text and voice chat along with better media embeds. I am sad to see that a lot of great talent here has either been banned by moderators with an agenda or left in protest. I haven't booked a model from here in years simply because I live in a university town and can hold casting calls with more effective results. I still come here to keep tabs on rising technology like (mirrorless cameras) or if there happens to be an interesting forum thread but as a resource Model Mayhem has lost most of its effectiveness. So to answer the OP's question - MM isn't kinda dead. It IS dead and I really don't see Internet Brands investing any kind of resources to modernize the site. Even if they did MM will never be as great as it once was. Jul 04 18 12:48 pm Link I think forums in general are dying, especially when they don't change with the times. I highly doubt it's because of the mean people. One of the forums (not MM) I used to frequent had a Southern California section and was lively back in 2006. Now, the last post was Jun 1. The one before that, Apr 26. Another one (not MM) used to fill the first 2 pages with that day's topic activity. Now, average 5 active topics, and mostly the generic ones similar to our "What are you listening to right now?" Edit: Am I the only one that feels old when I tell people I visit "forums".  Jul 04 18 12:53 pm Link
Post hidden on Jul 10, 2018 12:15 pm
Reason: off-topic Jul 04 18 01:01 pm Link
Post hidden on Jul 10, 2018 12:15 pm
Reason: off-topic Jul 04 18 01:06 pm Link ^ I think even a lot of community specific forums are dying. There's a reddit for my city but there is also a Discord server and that sees more activity. Jul 04 18 01:11 pm Link the lonely photographer wrote: Its sad when the plague follows the survivors and infects the new. Sorry to hear you experienced that. It's a prime reason I am hesitant to do any group activities past that with close friends I know I can trust. I avoided this site for years because of the reputation it was developing and am not without one month that my previous concerns are confirmed. Jul 04 18 01:40 pm Link
Post hidden on Jul 10, 2018 12:15 pm
Reason: off-topic Jul 04 18 01:56 pm Link Select Models wrote: Will do! Jul 04 18 02:15 pm Link Black Z Eddie wrote: 99% of MM people I talk to don't even know MM has a FORUM !!! Jul 04 18 02:34 pm Link Todd Meredith wrote: yup he's here too... i messaged about 20 new models for friending been 2 weeks no response Jul 04 18 02:43 pm Link the lonely photographer wrote: I just received a message from a model I sent a friend request to over a year ago. She asked me for a TFP shoot for a project she has going and from which she wants to sell the images. She said she had been busy for the last year. I wanted to say, "Doing what? Time in prison?" How busy can someone be? She had been on the site numerous times since I sent the request and I had moved on with another model for the project I had that was a paid gig. I also contacted another photographer she contacted about the same project. He had invested the time in a phone call and was told she only accepts friend requests when she has a project that will make her money and will shoot for her TFP. I kindly replied to her later that day that I'm too busy right now and will be for about the next year to work with her. Amazingly, she unfriended me. Imagine my surprise...not. Ask me if I care... Jul 04 18 05:12 pm Link Todd Meredith wrote: This is highly unusual for non response from friend requests, In the past I've had good responses I really think MM is holding up the friend requests up in order to coerce me into upgrading my account Jul 04 18 11:54 pm Link A friend put up a request in a FB group and tagged me too. I got three shots out of his post and got 2. I never got three shoots on here in all my time here. I am setting more up on FB and Instagram. I follow the link off FB to the IG account and contact them there and they can see my portfolio too. Jul 05 18 05:10 pm Link I'm getting more responses than ever! But IG seems most popular Jul 06 18 10:44 pm Link Gary Davis wrote: Every tier one agency and every tier one model is on Instagram. I bet something is wrong with your approach. Jul 07 18 10:13 pm Link Gary Davis wrote: JustinRoux wrote: What do you mean by 'tier one'? Jul 07 18 11:20 pm Link JustinRoux wrote: Instagram is for people that love themselves.You have to humour the people that post on instagram. You expect those models to repond to somebody they don't know? They get hit on by dozens if not hundreds of horny guys every week, why should they give 2 seconds to some stranger? Jul 07 18 11:22 pm Link PhotoACR wrote: I agree that the site is still good for finding agency models, hair and makeup people, even stylists. Facebook has also worked in the friends sense as I got an agency model to do an editorial and she's rather accomplished. But it is still MM. Jul 08 18 11:00 am Link JustinRoux wrote: That didn't take long...there will always be the guy that knows everything and and tells everybody else they are doing it wrong....never fails.. Jul 08 18 11:19 am Link the lonely photographer wrote: I had an IG account for a few years, never, ever posted on it. Jul 08 18 12:47 pm Link |
