There are many existing and emerging sites for social networking related to creative persons and it is up to the individual which sites and how many to use. A healthy mix of artist-specific as well as traditional networking (Facebook and Twitter, etc) is generally the best strategy to use. Photographers can use Flickr, Digital Artists and traditional artist can use sites like DeviantArt. Musicians can use last.Fm and MySpace, everyone can make use of Youtube and various social bookmarking pages, and really any combination of these sites can be of benefit to artists.
Behance
A good percentage of artistic personalities struggle with the mundane tasks related to promotions and organizations. Behance strives to relieve the pressures associated with those tasks, allowing artists to focus on their art. They focus on providing exposure for Creative Professionals, providing a large pool of talent, job lists and curation of content that allows for the best pieces to receive the most exposure. This all includes tip and technique exchange, peer review and resource and job networking.
Shapeshifters
They describe themselves as “a knowledge agency for the global creative community.” Their pre-search function is essentially a complex market analysis for your project, including demographics and relative budgets, allowing you to effectively design for your targets both in audience and profit. The High Touch function expertly pairs artists with project proposals, a highly invaluable tool for designers and project managers. And finally, their Global Exchange provides a marketplace for the Creative Professional to market and sell their products and services.
MyArtSpace
What began as a social networking site (and keeps these functions to this day), has evolved into a leading online location for contemporary artists and their art. This includes professionals, instructors, students and critics all in one space and covers traditional, contemporary, music and video arts. Competitive forums ensure that the best work receives the most recognition and a place in the spotlight. The network of different types of people insures quality critiques and dialogue on art.
Asoboo
Asoboo bills itself as “The network for creative, internationally-minded people”. Their front page directly links to interesting people, places to go and things to do. The goal is to network those three things together. It is a place to meet people and create groups for people with similar interests. You can blog through the site and publish it so that non-Asoboo users can also view it. Asoboo is free for all to use and great tool for the creative professional.
Others of Note
Taltopia is a site where artists upload their media and, through fan promotions and votes, gain recognition and thus discovery by agents and managers. Similarly HumbleVoice makes use of fan “favoriting” to earn creatives points which can be used towards various services and merchandise. 3DVIA has a focus on 3D models to be shared as community assets for rapid prototyping of 3D and Gaming industry projects. Artician is a new site, currently in beta that can also be used as an online portfolio for artist promotions. WhoHub is a social network for creative professionals under the Squidoo (a primarily blogging site) umbrella which acts as a meeting hub for artists.
Tags: Artist Networking, Artists, Artists Networks, Creative Professionals, Creative Social Networking, Creative Social Networks, Social Networking For Artists, Social Networking For Creative Professionals