Social media changed my life, but it’s not that I’m spending my day full-time on Twitter or Facebook. Sure, I spend SOME time doing social media only because it adds value to my real life. Without offline there’s no online. Thanks to the internet I can get more out of life. It all started with my blog, nalden.net, which has been my playground since I was 16. Ten years ago I built the blog and started sharing my enthusiasm on the stuff I like. Over the years, the blog has evolved to an alternative platform for creative people, artists and brands to be seen and heard – all on the premise of my enthusiasm and sharing the stories that excite me. 

One of the most beautiful things about the blog was the fact that it automatically attracted like-minded people. I got to know a lot of my newer friends because of this. With the help of positive thoughts and the same interests, new businesses were also born. When I was slowly becoming my own ‘brand’, I started a simple file-transfer service with a friend of mine. We scaled the full-screen business model of my blog, and made the service as easy as possible so that even my dad was able to use it. One and a half years later, we have six million users of WeTransfer and over 50k fans on Facebook.

For both my blog and WeTransfer, social media played a huge role. In all the new products I launch or help building, I’ll make sure that good people start talking about it – both on- and offline. I always emphasize facilitating feedback in the tools I build. My next challenge is to turn dead space into creative space and remove the banner from the internet. There’s a huge social part playing a role in this new project, called Kuvva. It’s a long tail strategy, but we feel like the market is ready: we all have social media and want to personalize this by adding some swag. Personalizing social media is the next step. 

Jonathan Pryce is a Scottish digital media consultant and photographer. Based in Paris and London, he runs the well-known street style blog, Les Garcons De Glasgow, and helps fashion brands to connect with their consumers in engaging ways. Having worked with the likes of ACNE, Topshop and House of Fraser, he has now moved on into the world of fashion film, and has just produced his first short for Scottish designer Hilary Laing.

Fashion Week begins. I’m back in London for the craziest period of time in my working calendar. Day one is probably the most exciting – people have dressed up to the nines in the latest season’s threads (or next season if you consider the stylists), and my eyes are rested and ready to absorb the city’s every sartorial movement. My leather hold-all is filled: camera, lens, flash, batteries, tickets, notebook, sunglasses, umbrella, plasters… Having now had the experience of many a fashion week, I’m fully prepared.

With my map in hand, I navigate my way to the first show of the day. Often the navigation is as successful as the show itself, and along the way I find three incredible-looking people. Non-fashion-week types are usually the most interesting – less pretension and a general lack of caring for the style ‘rulebook’. I get chatting with one, Ben, who’s visited my hometown of Glasgow many times. On the road, I often find Scotland is a great connection to have with people, and the overall reaction to being Scottish is very positive.

The day of shows begin. Between shows I make sure to leave early, as catching the crowds as they exit usually harvests the best shots, particularly when working on trend analysis. Fuchsia pink / bold stripes / acid green / large florals / platform heels…the trends emerge as each person clambers out of the venue.

The day churns on, and I stop back at Somerset House, the London HQ for Fashion Week. There is a sea of street style photographers awaiting the next flow of show attendees, and as I enter I’m stopped by a man I  recognize. The nice thing about this week is that a small community is formed for a few weeks each season. The photographer who stopped me had taken my photograph last season, so as far as time permitted, we shared street photography stories from our respective cities the past few months.

Coffee is filtered, as a good night sleep is never possible at Fashion Week. Every day I take literally thousands of photos, and it’s best to edit them all at the end of each day. Articles are written for blogs, and magazines and photos are uploaded for clients. Good thing I didn’t enter this business for the glamour!

I have a friend request on Facebook from yesterday’s “Ben” – ten friends in common, and it turns out we both worked on a photo shoot together in Paris last year, but never crossed paths. The world seems smaller every day, and with social media involved, it makes that all the more apparent. We exchange numbers, and arrange to get with a group of friends that night for dinner.

Another day begins, and I’m now more selective than ever over the number of photographs I take. On the first day, I’m always snap-happy, but having to review and edit all the photographs highlights the need for stealth. I see the House of Holland Show, always interesting due to the amount of media attention it receives. Word spreads amongst the crowd that Anna Wintour has just arrived on British soil, and Twitter confirms this. The show begins and so does my camera.
By the evening, I’m ready for a good meal and conversation. Ben and a few of our mutual friends (the ones that Facebook confirmed) get together and discuss our day – it’s great to be amongst others who work at Fashion Week and those who don’t. It creates a much needed diversity, but also a mutual understanding of the work which goes on. Amongst the group: a PR-person, a designer, a PhD student and a doctor; the conversation ranges from food and travel, to politics and social welfare – the perfect comedown from a few days of intense fashion. I get on particularly well with Lucy, a girl who it turns out went to school with my best friend from Scotland. We arrange to meet in Paris for the men’s fashion season next year, where she’ll be living as she moves across the Channel to start a new job as a social media manager. Clearly she’s in the right game!

The week is coming to an end, and my brain is filled beyond belief with inspirational images. Deadlines are mostly met, so I can relax a little and enjoy walking the streets at a more leisurely pace, away from the intensity of the shows. I stumble across a new exhibition in a private gallery in Hackney, East London, and decide to take a wander around. A tap on the shoulder takes me by surprise, as a girl asks if I’m ‘GarconJon’. She’s been following my blog, and compliments my work. Emma, an artist living in London, says she regularly uses my photography to inspire her, and is working on a series of paintings which feature real people from across the UK. It’s really flattering to meet someone who follows the blog, but even better when it in turn inspires someone else to create. It was an excellent way to end a hectic London Fashion Week.

Through my Les Garçons de Glasgow, not only have I photographed some beautiful people, but also, I’ve met essential business contacts, worked on exciting projects across Europe and made lifelong best friends with people who were once strangers to me. This is the real social element of social media.