Assignment: We Media Social Software: Flickr

The photo-sharing and photo-services site Flickr.com has become perhaps the leading example of we media social software. Our first project is designed to give you a deep knowledge of Flickr and its features. Along the way, you'll discover some of the key features of social software, and you'll discover a site that you'll probably use well into the future. Beware, Flickr is addictive.

1.) Subscribe to Flickr—its free and private—so that you have your own account.

2. Explore the site on your own, thoroughly. You may find some of the links in our We Media Online Notebook helpful.

3. Just to be sure everything is working with your account, upload a picture you have made, or a picture you have on your computer. Consider using an automated Flickr uploader like Kung-foo's 1001, which is free and something you'll probably find convenient and fun.

4. The length of this project will be the number of days equaling the number of students in the class. On the first day of class we'll straws, which will give you an assigned date for your "Flickr challenge."

Each day after dinner, and no later than 7PM, the designated student will send an email to the group with their "Flickr challenge" for the day. Everyone will then execute the challenge by 7PM of the next day. This means, of course, that you can expect to have a short Flickr-related project to do every day.

Since the goal of this project is to explore Flickr—and the many associated things that people have developed to do with it—your "challenge" for the group should be some conceptually interesting project to do on or using the site. It's find to ask people to make pictures and post them, or to find pictures on the web and upload them, or to group pictures from Flickr itself. As part of your challenge, be sure to tell everyone where or how they are to post or present their images.

If you are feeling short of ideas, there are many leads in the "Flickr Fun" section of the notebook.

Of course, along the way you should be attending to the way this site promotes social uses of photography through tagging, sharing, and so forth. If, as some philosophers argue, the meaning of things is "in their use," how are the new uses of photography, particularly those made possible through social software and related practices, changing the meanings of photos themselves?

Tues., Jan. 10: John Schott
Thurs., Jan. 12: Andrew Blum
Fri., Jan. 13: August Brown
Sat., Jan. 14: Samuel Chltiner-Gardner
Sun. Jan. 15: Karina Hill
Mon., Jan. 16: Sarah Jones
Wed., Jan. 25: Erika Lewis
Thurs., Jan. 26: Dan Selz
Fri., Jan. 27: Sam Lowry

First challenge from John Schott. [Due by 7PM on Wed., Jan 11]:

Webster's defines "alter ego" as 1. "Another side of oneself; a second self"; or 2. "An intimate friend or constant companion." Post an image that you take, make or find that represents your alter ego...and tag it "carleton_altered_egos." Here's my start.

P.S.: There's a new bar in San Francisco with a Flickr photo booth, and here's their stream.

Comments

[Scott]

Maybe our flickr tag can be 'carletonwemedia'. I checked and there aren't any other photos tagged with this, surprisingly enough.

[Karina]

That sounds good to me, Scott! Done and Done.