Why photo sharing websites are popular?
Overview
Photo sharing is one of the most wonderful categories of the new Web 2.0. Photo sharing is a term mostly given to a category of website that publishes photos online. These sites allow users to organize and share photos.
In technical terms, photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, enabling the user to share them with others. This functionality is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images.
Modes of photo sharing
Photo sharing can be done in three modes;
- Through websites
- Through desktop photo management application
- Other portable internet-connected devices
The first photo sharing sites originated during the mid to late 1990s but many more came into being during the early 2000s. Good photo sharing sites generally allow users to categorize and organize images, provide keyword tags, deliver images in multiple sizes, do basic image manipulation, and share images on their websites or blogs.
Desktop photo-management applications may include their own photo-sharing features or integration with sites for uploading images to them. There are also desktop applications whose sole function is sharing photos. Basic photo sharing functionality can be found in applications that allow you to email photos.
Photo sharing is not confined to the web and personal computers but is also possible from portable devices such as camera phones, using applications that can automatically transfer photos as you take them, to photo sharing sites and photoblogs, either directly or via MMS. Some standard digital cameras also have Wifi capability, making it easier to put photos directly online.
Why photo sharing websites are popular?
The popularity of photo sharing websites is on the rise, undoubtedly. Millions use photo-sharing websites. Their popularity can be gauged by the factor that 141 million users visited Google’s Picasa and Yahoo’s Flickr online photo sharing services last year. Some of the key features as to why these websites are in great demand may be summarized in the following points;
Ø Photo sharing sites are a convenient place to share photos, and they let you create slideshows to put on your lodging website.
Ø Photo sharing sites are a powerful and convenient way to manage photo libraries. Most of the sites provide easy steps to set up, upload and manage personal photos. Privacy matters can also be taken care of when needed. Access to these photos can be restricted to few friends and family members, or can be made viewable by public. Also a group of users can join together to collaborate on a project.
Ø These websites provide another useful service. They can print calendars, booklets, posters, prints, stamps, etc from your photos. This service can help many businesses in name recognition.
Ø Most photo sharing sites allow users to create online “communities”. This offers great photo sharing and online marketing opportunities for many associations.
Ø Photo-editing is yet another feature that many websites offer. This means that users who don’t pre-edit their photos on their computers can tweak them after they upload them on these websites.
Ø Photo sharing websites can be used to drive qualified traffic to user’s intended purposes or company. They can also provide potential search engine benefits.
Ø As is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, it is just natural that these websites have created a niche for themselves. They, in their own right, have become a market as well as bringing in more resources to generate revenues.
Ø It is the ease of use as to why these websites are popular among users. They provide easy and intuitive interface to their users. They also have simplified options of uploading, viewing and manipulating images. Most importantly no one needs a certificate of experience or qualification to join these websites. This has put the power of technology in easy reach to the users.
Ø Photo sharing sites give a sense of sharing and community participation to their users. A user can share his photos to many other users and form a bond of community and friendship. This increases a sense of sharing and active participation in community. Users can also collaborate to work on a project. It is also a good way to share memories of different events in one’s life.
Ø Information assimilation is yet another objective these websites fulfill. Users in one part of the world can gain information from other part of the world in an instant. Many online news websites also use photos to assimilate news quickly.
Some popular photo sharing websites
Ø Flickr is one of the earliest Web 2.0 application. It hosts more than 2 billion images. It is extremely popular. It is used both by users who want to share their photos personally and users who use it as a repository for their blogging photos. It allows to tag, browse and manage photos with ease.
Ø Buzznet has all the features for a photo sharing program. It has a nice “blog” feature in addition to photo uploading. It calls this feature a “journal”, so you can not only use it to share your photos but also create a community around them with your own blog posts.
Ø PictureTrail is a major site like Flickr. It has a whole community that can look at a user’s photos, and comment. User can provide descriptive text and link out the photo to other sites. There are hundreds of groups in hundreds of categories user can join and share their photos. It has many ways to share photos.
Ø Dotphoto is an easy to use photo-sharing program. It can create user’s own homepage to showcase galleries. It doesn’t use tagging nor has a community like Flickr, Buzznet or Picturetrail.
Ø Fotki has a nice community which encourages commenting. It lets create badges for user’s website. It is easy to upload albums and add descriptions with links. Fotki uses tagging and has a “links” page. Fotki has a built-in geo-mapping feature to connect user’s photos to Google Earth map.
Ø Faces is a blog type photo-sharing site. It has user profiles, bookmarks, lists, posts and a real sense of community. It also has good privacy controls.
Ø Webshots is easy to use and browse through photos.
Ø Photobucket is an extremely popular site. It is a more utilitarian tool meant for uploading photos for people who want to embed them in blogs. It doesn’t have the community aspect like Flickr or PictureTrail.
