Photography in the social media age

The value of photography these days seems to be diminishing. There are now more photographs online that perhaps in the whole of human history. What is the purpose of photography these days? It seems to be now only a social connection tool with a bit of art thrown in.  

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A sand sculpture. image: Richard Conan-Davies

Capturing an interesting evocative image still has value but it now harder to find them.  Is the only value for photography these days a purely personal one? Why do you take photographs? Some answers typically would be to remind me where I have been, to capture a set of colours like a sunset. 

Sharing of the photograph seems to be important too. This provides some kind of social connection. But where to share it? share it among friends via Facebook , Flickr ? Or attempt to broadcast it more publicly via Twitter or Instagram? 

May be the key is not so much photography but to be more specific about the kind of photography you are doing. Are you doing wildlife photography, macrophotography, fashion photography, news reportage, product etc? 

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