Learning through Humor
Drag and Drop For Exclusivity
How many times has your image been used?
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There are SO many images that I wish I could delete off the internet. As an editor sometimes I just want to scream, “DID YOU BOTHER TO EVEN LOOK PAST PAGE ONE OF THE SEARCH RESULTS?”.
Yeesh.
Type in one keyword, snag the first image on page one, and you know what you end up with?
A lot of confusion from readers, that’s what.
Google Images has entered the chatroom…
When you are writing you should have about three tabs open — the one you're writing your story in, your favorite copyright-free images page, and Google Images. I use Pixabay nearly 100% of the time. I will use variations of Wiki when Pixabay doesn’t have what I’m looking for. Like the one above.
“But Terry, if I’m using Pixabay, why do I need Google open?” I’m SO glad you asked! Once you’ve chosen an image you’re thinking about using, do yourself a favor.
Drag and drop that sucker into Google Images.
When you see how many times your beloved image has been used and, more importantly, how many times it’s been used on Medium, you’ll need a defibrillator.
Try it and see if I’m lying. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Seeeeeeee? I told you so.
Stop being lazy. If there is a 50-page result given, I start at page 25 and work my way forward to page one until I see something I like and that I think fits well with the story I’m submitting or publishing.
You can still do a drag and drop but you’ll also be amazed at how much lower the number of times it's been used will be.
Why is this important?
Go to Medium’s main page. Upper right-hand corner you’ll see Latest From Following and under the mugshots you’ll see All From Following. From time to time, go there and scroll down. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the same image more than once in the same row. Hell, the row only holds three thumbnails. Is that really how you want your work displayed? Right next to someone with a completely different story from yours but using the exact same image as yours?
There have been times I couldn’t remember who wrote it, what the title was, or where it had been published, but I could recall what the image was of a piece I wanted to read. So I’d search Medium for the image and BOOM. More than one. I wasn’t about to scroll through all the stories/articles to try to figure out which one I had wanted to read.
So that writer missed an opportunity. An opportunity for a read, a view, maybe some claps, and even a comment. What if?
What if that one near-miss meant the difference between a $4.99 month and a $5.25 month? No, you’re right. It isn’t a lot of money. But.
Multiply that by the number of other potential readers you missed because your thumbnail looked like way too many others.
Ouch.
