Technically Speaking

An interesting article, found in the BBC news site last Wednesday, asks the following question: There are dozens of photo sharing websites out there, but one, Flickr, has caught the imagination of the global weblog community. Now it has been bought by Yahoo! So what makes Flickr unique?

I have been a member for some time now but only recently I have started posting images and getting involved with the community. Flickr is an addictive and time consuming website that is guaranteed to have something for everyone. Check out what the BBC has to say about it all.

Users can create a list of friends who also use the site - instantly building online communities through picture sharing. Friends can write a comment beneath your photos or even attach a discreet note to part of the image itself, turning the whole experience into more of a conversation.

This casual sociability is what makes the site so fun. Tom Coates, recent winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award for his weblog plasticbag.org, posts several photos every week from his phone and camera. “It’s not about taking artful shots,” he says, “it’s about capturing moments - things your eyes have got caught on - and doing what you’d do to a friend if they happened to be on the street with you, saying ‘check that out, isn’t that awesome’”.

But Flickr reaches beyond friends - its archive is open to everyone, so any stranger can see your photos, and vice versa.

While you can group your own photos into themed collections - perhaps a gallery of your holiday or of your pets - you can also set up, or join, themed groups. It could be a wedding, so guests can contribute their photos of the big day, or a public group devoted to pictures of your neighbourhood, your favourite hobby, or even objects (scooters, peeling paint, muscles…).

With so many photos on the site, how do you find them? Tags. When you upload a photo you can “tag” it with a few keywords describing the picture. Anyone can search for photos matching specific tags and create spontaneous collections of themed pictures taken by all of Flickr’s users. How about 21,050 flowers, 3,581 smiles or 764 photos of wind?

Quote Source

That is about the extent of the site, but it is the people you meet and the things you see that make it all that more interesting. If you haven’t been to Flickr yet, go and check it out! Don’t be afraid to become a member and try it out. It’s free you know!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2005 at 1:30 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.