Flickr Community
I referred in my last blog entry about a photography site called Flickr. I don’t exactly recall how I first encountered Flickr (I have slept since then), but I suspect I stumbled across it (literally, through Firefox’s extension, Stumble, which is a neat little tool for systematically wandering the Internet, directed by preferences you can change at will). Now two years old, Flickr is one of the newest internet communities. At first blush, it looks like a good place to store prized photographs off-site. It is also a chance to share photography tips and issues with like-minded photographers – there are amateur and professional photographers alike there. However, it has grown into its own little community, as it has its own blog and various ‘pools’ sorted according to the latest computer sorting scheme using ‘tags’ and people’s interests – Pink Think, Picturing the Male, Your Dog Nose, I Love My Cat (with nearly 3500 members!), Purple Flowers, Anything and Everything, to name just a few.
Each of these pools often has its own discussions going on, some of which include sniping at a group that the pool’s creator just left because of some small artistic or aesthetic difference. One recent example of this splintering resulted in a pool called First Thoughts Fewer Rules (FTFR). This pool is a splinter from the group First Thoughts (FT), as the FTFR creator thought the rules of FT too complex. There has been some heated (but relatively civil) debate going in the discussion threads of both pools concerning why one is better than the other. The truth is that both pools are great; as it was explained by one person, splintering happens all the time in Flickr, and that is a good thing because it reduces the pool membership and therefore gives everyone a better chance that other photographers will see their photos. You know, like religion.
That is another reason for posting to Flickr. The site keeps track of how many times people (other than you) view your photo. Visitors to your photo pool may leave comments if they wish. Most comments are very general: “Nice capture!” “Wow!” or “I love the colours!” Some are slightly more technical, mentioning suggestions for improving composition, contrast, etc. Some pools exist primarily for critical appraisal, such as “Fix My Pic” or “Grade Me”. Some pools are just for fun. Recalling the FT and FTFR pools mentioned before, the idea is to view a certain number of photos and leave your first thought upon seeing the photo – critiques are not necessary nor generally encouraged. TAG pools exist to provide a certain number of ‘tags’ (as in the game, not the sorting method) until you’re out of the pool. Another way for someone to show their admiration is to add your photo as a ‘fav’, that is, a favourite. The viewer can keep thumbnail links to these photos in one place. If the photographer allows it, the photo can even be downloaded to use as desktop wallpaper.
That is probably an important point to make, for the 23 of you out there who haven’t visited Flickr yet. Photographers who upload their photos can restrict viewers’ ability to blog, download, print, and leave notes on their photos. One can even restrict viewing to a named list of family and friends, or permit the public to view some or all of his or her photos. So if you want to post photos of Nanna’s 98th birthday party at the nursing home for your family to see (particularly if they live all over the world), but you know the photos would be a crashing bore for anyone else, you can restrict their viewing to family and/or friends, while still allowing other Flickr members to see the rest of your photostream.
The point, for many Flickrites, however, is getting exposure. This is because one method of looking at photos – other than admiring your own photostream, visiting pools you have joined, checking out your contacts’ latest contributions or looking at photos that have been recently uploaded – is through Flickr’s Explore option. Explore is based on a mysterious, vague and seemingly arbitrary selection process that may or may not take number of views, number of favourites and number of comments into consideration in ranking photos 1 to 500. The top 10, more or less, are displayed daily with the Explore link, therefore giving these photographers specialised and maximum exposure. If all of this seems rather egotistical and self-absorbed, you must remember that artists (and that term probably applies to at least 90% of all Flickr members – the other 10% are posting photos of Nanna’s birthday party) need exposure. Sure, they create their art because they have the inner drive, but ultimately, they are not unlike the small child, standing on the diving board ready to do the greatest cannonball into the pool, screaming, “Mum! Mum! Lookit me, mum! Lookit me!!”
There is much discussion, often heated about how arbitrary this concept of ‘interestingness’ can be – photos often drop in and out of the Top 500 for no reason. Some make it all the way to the Top 10 when others, with similar numbers of comments, favs and views never do. Visitors are cautioned that paying to much attention to interestingness can be bad for one’s health. But Flickr, in general, and interestingness, specifically, are hard habits to break. One uploads a few hundred photos, and then needs to increase the dose by going “pro” – unlimited uploads (2GB a month) for a yearly subscription of $US24.95. The photographer finds that he or she has joined a huge number of pools, sometimes just so one photo can be displayed. You check how many photos you have in the Top 500 and think that will be okay, but 30 minutes later (or less!), you have to check again. And if one is not well-disciplined, Flickr is like many Internet communities where the member spends many hours uploading, viewing, discussing and, of course, checking one’s position regarding interestingness.
However, on the positive side, friendships are created. Recently, a woman had her kitten spayed. Arny Johanns’ contacts already knew Sunna from her many photos, posted since she joined the household. Arny posted a photo of Sunna sleeping, complete with the plastic collar that the vet puts on so the animal won’t worry her stitches. People who were their contacts as well as complete strangers saw that photo and were touched by it. So later, she posted a photo in which Sunna was awake – still a ‘bucket head’, as Ratbag would call it – but looking a lot brighter. Because Flickr has been around for two years, people watch other people’s kids grow up; they share birthday photos of their kids, their cats, their dogs, their spouses and partners. Photographers of amazing talent share their travel photos. People who own Ragdoll cats, Greyhounds, Maine Coon Cats, Great Danes, parrots and cockatiels, iguanas – you name it – share their pet photos and their interest in that species of animal. One of my favourite pet photos is one of jan2eke’s dogs, Moos and Shanny. Possibly my favourite photo on Flickr would have to belong to a woman who takes wonderful photos, Shutterhugs. She uploaded this photo of her baby’s little feet (Tiny Swimmer Feet - see above, but go to Flickr to see the full size photo).
So it is a community; what goes on there just happens in the Ethernet. There are frequent ‘meet-ups’ for members who live in the same area; even people who are now couples ‘met’ on Flickr. It is a community complete with all human emotions, interests, hobbies, joys, sorrows and idiosyncrasies that the ‘real’ world holds – with the common thread of photography. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, visit Flickr. If you want to see my photos, click on the link in the right column of this blog (where you see all the pretty pictures!). If you’re an amateur, avid or professional photographer, and have some spare time, join us at Flickr (if you haven’t already). See you in the Top 500!
Each of these pools often has its own discussions going on, some of which include sniping at a group that the pool’s creator just left because of some small artistic or aesthetic difference. One recent example of this splintering resulted in a pool called First Thoughts Fewer Rules (FTFR). This pool is a splinter from the group First Thoughts (FT), as the FTFR creator thought the rules of FT too complex. There has been some heated (but relatively civil) debate going in the discussion threads of both pools concerning why one is better than the other. The truth is that both pools are great; as it was explained by one person, splintering happens all the time in Flickr, and that is a good thing because it reduces the pool membership and therefore gives everyone a better chance that other photographers will see their photos. You know, like religion.
That is another reason for posting to Flickr. The site keeps track of how many times people (other than you) view your photo. Visitors to your photo pool may leave comments if they wish. Most comments are very general: “Nice capture!” “Wow!” or “I love the colours!” Some are slightly more technical, mentioning suggestions for improving composition, contrast, etc. Some pools exist primarily for critical appraisal, such as “Fix My Pic” or “Grade Me”. Some pools are just for fun. Recalling the FT and FTFR pools mentioned before, the idea is to view a certain number of photos and leave your first thought upon seeing the photo – critiques are not necessary nor generally encouraged. TAG pools exist to provide a certain number of ‘tags’ (as in the game, not the sorting method) until you’re out of the pool. Another way for someone to show their admiration is to add your photo as a ‘fav’, that is, a favourite. The viewer can keep thumbnail links to these photos in one place. If the photographer allows it, the photo can even be downloaded to use as desktop wallpaper.
That is probably an important point to make, for the 23 of you out there who haven’t visited Flickr yet. Photographers who upload their photos can restrict viewers’ ability to blog, download, print, and leave notes on their photos. One can even restrict viewing to a named list of family and friends, or permit the public to view some or all of his or her photos. So if you want to post photos of Nanna’s 98th birthday party at the nursing home for your family to see (particularly if they live all over the world), but you know the photos would be a crashing bore for anyone else, you can restrict their viewing to family and/or friends, while still allowing other Flickr members to see the rest of your photostream.
The point, for many Flickrites, however, is getting exposure. This is because one method of looking at photos – other than admiring your own photostream, visiting pools you have joined, checking out your contacts’ latest contributions or looking at photos that have been recently uploaded – is through Flickr’s Explore option. Explore is based on a mysterious, vague and seemingly arbitrary selection process that may or may not take number of views, number of favourites and number of comments into consideration in ranking photos 1 to 500. The top 10, more or less, are displayed daily with the Explore link, therefore giving these photographers specialised and maximum exposure. If all of this seems rather egotistical and self-absorbed, you must remember that artists (and that term probably applies to at least 90% of all Flickr members – the other 10% are posting photos of Nanna’s birthday party) need exposure. Sure, they create their art because they have the inner drive, but ultimately, they are not unlike the small child, standing on the diving board ready to do the greatest cannonball into the pool, screaming, “Mum! Mum! Lookit me, mum! Lookit me!!”
There is much discussion, often heated about how arbitrary this concept of ‘interestingness’ can be – photos often drop in and out of the Top 500 for no reason. Some make it all the way to the Top 10 when others, with similar numbers of comments, favs and views never do. Visitors are cautioned that paying to much attention to interestingness can be bad for one’s health. But Flickr, in general, and interestingness, specifically, are hard habits to break. One uploads a few hundred photos, and then needs to increase the dose by going “pro” – unlimited uploads (2GB a month) for a yearly subscription of $US24.95. The photographer finds that he or she has joined a huge number of pools, sometimes just so one photo can be displayed. You check how many photos you have in the Top 500 and think that will be okay, but 30 minutes later (or less!), you have to check again. And if one is not well-disciplined, Flickr is like many Internet communities where the member spends many hours uploading, viewing, discussing and, of course, checking one’s position regarding interestingness.
However, on the positive side, friendships are created. Recently, a woman had her kitten spayed. Arny Johanns’ contacts already knew Sunna from her many photos, posted since she joined the household. Arny posted a photo of Sunna sleeping, complete with the plastic collar that the vet puts on so the animal won’t worry her stitches. People who were their contacts as well as complete strangers saw that photo and were touched by it. So later, she posted a photo in which Sunna was awake – still a ‘bucket head’, as Ratbag would call it – but looking a lot brighter. Because Flickr has been around for two years, people watch other people’s kids grow up; they share birthday photos of their kids, their cats, their dogs, their spouses and partners. Photographers of amazing talent share their travel photos. People who own Ragdoll cats, Greyhounds, Maine Coon Cats, Great Danes, parrots and cockatiels, iguanas – you name it – share their pet photos and their interest in that species of animal. One of my favourite pet photos is one of jan2eke’s dogs, Moos and Shanny. Possibly my favourite photo on Flickr would have to belong to a woman who takes wonderful photos, Shutterhugs. She uploaded this photo of her baby’s little feet (Tiny Swimmer Feet - see above, but go to Flickr to see the full size photo).
So it is a community; what goes on there just happens in the Ethernet. There are frequent ‘meet-ups’ for members who live in the same area; even people who are now couples ‘met’ on Flickr. It is a community complete with all human emotions, interests, hobbies, joys, sorrows and idiosyncrasies that the ‘real’ world holds – with the common thread of photography. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, visit Flickr. If you want to see my photos, click on the link in the right column of this blog (where you see all the pretty pictures!). If you’re an amateur, avid or professional photographer, and have some spare time, join us at Flickr (if you haven’t already). See you in the Top 500!
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