Social media. Am I missing out?

[NickyBass]

Aside from a Youtube channel and a lingering MySpace account, I don't have social media. I was thinking about signing up for Facebook so I can join some local music scene groups. I'm not looking for anything specific. Maybe just meet some people with similar interests, or maybe meet some auxiliary players. I know it's easy to sign up, and if I don't use it, I can delete it. But, I thought it would be fun to see what you guys are doing with it. Does anyone have good stories about social media connections?

 

[bass12]

I have a Facebook account but I try to stay away from it as much as possible (I still use it for Messenger). If you do sign up I would recommend not accepting friend requests and thereby not having a newsfeed to suck you in and depress you.

 

[ArtechnikA]

The FB music scene is quite active in the NJ/PA/DE/MD region.

 

[RattleSnack]

AFAIK Europe musicians mostly use Instagram. I have lots of regional musicians as contacts, don't even have phone numbers - you just IM them when you need something. I also follow bands and clubs/places that have gigs, to stay informed.
On my profile, I keep short videos and photos of my gigs, as a kind of online portfolio.
All in all - very usefull tool.
Edit: Much better to use soc. network this way - as business tool and portfolio. Replacing your social life with it, you want to avoid.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I think you can get out of FB what you want provided you're careful. Only accepting Friends you want to connect with, keeping your profile locked down, stay off the click bait, etc.

I love the connection to friends and family that live far away, connecting with musicians, promoting gigs, buying/selling on Marketplace.

 

[MuseChaser]

Go to gigs....concerts, clubs, jam sessions, rehearsal bands, restaurants/pubs with live players, say Hi, meet people, immerse yourself in music and humanity. Stay away from "social media."

(I know....this is social media. Right now, it's the only forum I participate in).

 

[BassGuyFL]

I've noticed a dramatic drop in my visibility in the local scene since my absence from FB. I really have a love-hate relationship with social media (mostly hate).

I do play in a prominent local band but we're all but invisible to other segments of the market. It's a tribute band that caters to an older demographic and we're not really known by the bar band/corporate band people. Ether they figure I'm not available or I'm just not on their radar which is a double-edged sword. I understand "out of sight out of mind" but man I just don't like having to weed through all the white noise of social media. Plus I feel like I'm not that big a narcissist that I need to post all the time. It's like yeah who cares what I'm up to I'm not that interesting.

 

[bucephylus]

Another vote for get out, meet people, and play with as many situations as makes sense. The internet is best used for getting information. It is a poor, and possibly dangerous place to socialize.

 

[MuseChaser]

Another vote for get out, meet people, and play with as many situations as makes sense. The internet is best used for getting information. It is a poor, and possibly dangerous place to socialize.

Great quote in your sig, btw.

 

[NickyBass]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not so much looking to replace human interaction. I just thought it might expand "where" I can be and present new avenues. It was just something that I was kicking around in my head, but, then again, there must have been a reason that I never joined.

 

[Al Rivera]

I'm in two bands,the first one was looking for a bass player through a Facebook muchigan musicians page and the second band we found the drummer and singer through another Facebook mid michigan musicians wanted page. It is also how I follow my local music scene.

 

[ArtechnikA]

...there must have been a reason that I never joined.

I didn't join until my band started playing out. It is 99 per cent business for me. I don't have far-flung family I need to stay in contact with. I don't post much to my personal page and most of that is just band gig shares. But my finger is on the pulse of what venues are booking what bands, what bands are playing where, which booking agents are active and how they're doing, what bands are looking for what kinds of players...
As Yogi Berra said -- 'You can observe a lot just by watching.' There's probably a dozen each bands, venues, and 'looking for musician' groups I follow, all in a 100-mi localised region.

 

[mrcbass]

I'm not a fan of social media, but did do the Fb thing when I started gigging. I can't really say that it helps (never see my non-muso friends at shows), but I do it mostly to help promote either my gigs or gigs of friends. It does help build my musical circle a bit, but most of my new FB friends come after I meet them in person anyway. I never accept friend requests from people I don't know - especially those from alleged hot young ladies with no common friends.

FB has become a minor source for toilet time entertainment for me, but I do see a lot of stuff that I just scroll through as fast as I can.

So, social media could be considered a necessary evil, but it could also be considered pointless. Only way you'll know is to give it a spin for a few months.

 

[roller]

Instagram (owned by Facebook) is fun as you're looking at photos and videos posted by others.

There's lots of great content for viewing as a bunch of the great builders (ex. Sadowsky, Valenti, L.E.H., Carl Thompson, MTD) regularly post really cool stuff. There's other bass-related users out there as well. I recommend roaming around and seeing what you find.

And don't worry -- if you're concerned about having your personal info on social media, you can sign up to Instagram (or Facebook, for that matter) with a phony name and password. You don't have to put any of your real info on there. Just keep up with the screenname and password you use.

Does anyone have good stories about social media connections?

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Aside from a Youtube channel and a lingering MySpace account, I don't have social media. I was thinking about signing up for Facebook so I can join some local music scene groups. I'm not looking for anything specific. Maybe just meet some people with similar interests, or maybe meet some auxiliary players. I know it's easy to sign up, and if I don't use it, I can delete it. But, I thought it would be fun to see what you guys are doing with it. Does anyone have good stories about social media connections?

‘Try BandMix.com in addition to Facebook.

 

[Sam Evans]

I agree with those who say use it for "business" and not personal. If I were still actively interested in gigging, I'd probably make a FB account with the name "Sam E. (bassist)". If possible, I'd set it so that people cannot send friend requests at all, but only Follow me. Then I'd only post info, pictures, videos, etc., related to my bands, gigs, etc., and keep an eye on it in case anyone wants to contact me about that and that alone. I myself would only look at it to follow bands I'm interested in, other local musicians, etc.; no RL friends or family, no "news," no politics, etc.

 

[Polfuste]

Just get out from FB, cause i was falling each time in the scrolling-without-goal rabbit hole. And since i'm hobbyist and don't run after gigs, that has not changed anything except i loose less life time. My bandmates are more focus on that in the two bands and i let them play this game. As someone else already said: i rarely to never saw some FB friends at gigs.

 

[JRA]

i use a FB page for personal contacts (family, kids) and band business (a different page) via a pseudonym. i use instagram (friends, musicians). i'm not a 'power user' with either one, but i've learned to avoid some of the rubbish on FB.

i wouldn't hesitate to use either SM (or others) if i wanted to make contact with other musicians.

i think a lot of SM is garbage, there is no 'best', but any of them can be tolerated/useful if you have clear goals in mind and if you limit your 'exposure'.

 

[Shalto]

In my experience Facebook can be helpful for musicians finding other musicians/knowing about gigs etc as there are usually some groups you can join like "(insert city name) musican connections" or "(insert city name) live music scene".

For reaching an audience its going the other direction as many folks are leaving social media or not really logging in often. Facebook in particular is now showing more ads and less posts so unless you pay to advertise its getting harder to get your promotion seen.

Instagram is better for advertising gigs/performance videos etc but less good for connecting with other musicians.

 

[socknroll1]

TalkBass is what I would call "legacy" social-media. It's part of why I love it! At the time, message boards were the only way to do this sort of thing.

FB and IG are both good for different things. I limit my use of each to a quick check-in each day. It works for me, for music and non-music-related fun.