Flickr in the Pan

It's interesting to explore Flickr now, when photo sharing on the web has become nothing if not ubiquitous; everyone and his uncle has a digital camera, many of which are merely a component of smartphones that enable instantaneous photo uploading to the internet.  When Flickr began in 2004, Facebook wasn't yet Facebook (anyone seen The Social Network?), and the idea of photo sharing I think was more about folks (mostly amateur or aspiring photographers) getting their photographs out into the world in a new and exciting way.  I may be totally uninformed with that statement, but based on personal experience that seems to be the case.  That's when digital cameras were emerging into mainstream consumerism, yet were still expensive enough that I think only those serious about photography (or those with some disposable income) indulged and did away with their film counterparts.

I started a Flickr account a little over three years ago, posting some photos I'd taken on a beautiful fall afternoon, and thought "I should make it a weekly activity/challenge for myself to post at least one new meaningful or artistic picture a week" to reignite my photography hobby.  I'd begun a new Facebook account a few months prior to keep in touch with folks who came to our wedding, and it seemed like whenever I, or anyone for that matter, posted pictures online, it was on Facebook.  I told myself that I would post pictures from trips and fun events on Facebook, while maintaining my Flickr page for more artistic or "photography for the sake of photography" pictures.  A pipe dream, I guess, because I didn't keep it up.

One cool thing about Flickr is that it seems to have remained largely unaffected by the epidemic-like spread of folks sharing everything with everyone on the internet.  Looking at it for the first time in a couple of years, it looks virtually the same.  I know many bloggers use Flickr for hosting their embedded photos, and others have groups organized on Flickr itself.  I explored this feature, simply searching "Columbus, Ohio" and found a really cool group called Not There Anymore that posts photos of buildings or other public fixtures that have changed or been destroyed.  (One contributor used this outlet for a bit of commentary on how society largely does not value buildings and other structures of historical nature and/or value, which I think is great.)  Flickr is yet another great tool to link folks together through an artistic medium.  Not surprisingly, librarians and library lovers alike use Flickr to connect, as I found here!