Yahoo Labs recently conducted a study called “Why We Filter Our Photos and How It Impacts Engagement”.
According to their study serious photographers are far more light handed with filters vs casual photographers who transform their photos with a much bolder application of filters. I must admit that I’m one of the photographers who is either light handed with filters or, doesn’t use them at all. I just feel like they’re so overused in a world full of smartphones. Although, this recent study suggests that filters do in fact appeal to the masses. The results of these tests came number one from the interviewing of casual photographers who use the Flickr mobile app. They wanted to understand the photographer’s point of view and perception of filters.
Next they did an engagement study of 7.6 million Flickr photos. They used these photos to determine which photos would receive the most engagement from photo viewers.
“We also find that filtered photos are 21% more likely to be viewed and 45% more likely to be commented on by consumers of photographs. Specifically, filters that increase warmth, exposure and contrast boost engagement the most.”
So the bottom line is that the type of filter you use will effect your image engagement instead of simply applying any filter.
Although, I’m still not sure I particularly like using filters.
Since you probably are reading this article as a result of clicking the link in Facebook one thing you may not realize is that when you upload a photo from your smartphone by default Facebook will automatically apply a filter to it.
Now I haven’t contacted Facebook for an official comment however, one of the things this automatic filter will do is raise exposure. Therefore I would conclude the reason they do it is to increase engagement. In the video below Jared Polin from Fro Knows Photo photo will show you how to turn the filter off so that you can load your work in exactly the way that you created it.
You can read about and download the study at Yahoo
Source: Yahoo
