Thing 5: Flickr Fun!

Photo by Michaeljohn

Flickr is a great photo-sharing resource. There are so many amazing pictures that are available for anyone to look at. I especially find Flickr's Creative Commons portal fascinating. Creative Commons allows anyone to use pictures created by someone else, without restrictive copyright laws interfering with art and creativity.

There are probably many things libraries can do with Flickr. The most obvious, of course, is to post event photos for everyone in the community to share. The library could have online photo contests, also, to bring the community together.

There are, of course, privacy issues. It seems a bit scary to post all of your pictures, which tell your life story, online for all the world to see. People can make certain that those photos are kept private, naturally, but there are worries, especially when there are children involved. If people are careful, however, it's not too difficult to avoid giving too much information away.

I've never used Flickr, Photobucket, Picassa, or any of the other photo sites for my own ppersonal use, but I may try it out, just for the fun of it.