Do you thing the meaning of photography has changed through the increased use of social media?

[Steve P]

Good grief, I could write pages and pages on this topic. Very briefly, I think "social media" has done major harm to the respect once given to the skill, craft, and art of good photography. It has certainly created a generation of delusional people who think all they have to do is buy a camera and it will magically make them a good photographer. What is even worse are all the absurd people who think owning a camera means they can also be "a photography business". It is pathetic. A photographer was once respected as a skilled profession and people had no qualms about paying the price for a professional's skill and time. Now, almost every entity that draws a breath thinks they are a photographer, even if they only have a phone, and that anything they do is just as good as a pro can do. Due to the never ending glut of garbage photos on the web now, there is far too much perception by the general public that anyone who does provide a photography service should be happy to do it for almost free. The advent of the digital camera is truly at the heart of this paradigm shift, social media is just an offshoot.

steve