3555  If it is time to present yourself virtually..

Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 22:31:37 -0700
From: Igor Polk <ipolk@VIRTUAR.COM>
Subject: If it is time to present yourself virtually..

Why flickr???

At this time when an extremely powerful server costs $7.99/month I urge you
to have your own website and to be your own boss. Simple website is really
easy to do.

Or Google blogs. Even easier, free, full control..

This is at least something which I can link to.

Igor Polk

Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 03:02:23 -0500
From: Joe Grohens <grohens@UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: If it is time to present yourself virtually..

At 10:31 PM -0700 6/28/05, Igor Polk wrote:

>Why flickr???
>
>At this time when an extremely powerful server costs $7.99/month I urge you
>to have your own website and to be your own boss. Simple website is really
>easy to do.
>
>Or Google blogs. Even easier, free, full control..
>
>This is at least something which I can link to.
>
>Igor Polk

Igor,

You have a good point. Anyone could start a photo web site.

The merit of Flickr is its reach, and that people voluntarily
participate for hundreds of different motivations. You get a social
aggregation of people from all over the world.

My own web sites have a thematic focus -- tango in Central Illinois.
I am my own boss there. But my idea isn't as big as Flickr's idea.
Flickr's idea is about sharing photos of all kinds.

Flickr's focus is much larger than "my" web site, and on Flickr
everyone is the boss. That is an exciting experiment. And look what
happens. I started a tango photo pool... and some young photographer
in Bs. As. who likes to take pictures of tango dancers has posted a
few dozen photos... a few of them were of Sunderland, one of my
favorite milongas. I don't think that I would have met this guy
through my own web site.

I happen to like Flickr because it just works in ways you can't
design for. Sometimes it is good not to be the boss, and better to
let what happens happen.

You could start a tango-l-photo.com site. Depends on how much work
you want to do and money you want to spend. Do you want to write CGIs
to make it easy for people to post photos? Bandwith usage doesn't
stay at $7.99/mo for very long. But anyway, go ahead. I've got my
hands full doing what I am already doing.

You don't have to pay any money to join Flickr and post photos,
though, if that's your main complaint.

Joe

https://tango.joegrohens.com