Task 1D - Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/105396472@N02/       < Here is my FLICKR page link! Please let me know what you think of my pics :) 

I already have an Instagram account; on there, I post photos of me with family and friends. I want to keep my Uni work separate though, I thought whilst I'm already learning new networking techniques I might as well create a Flickr account and learn how to use it. I have granted access to my google account so I can find friends and follow them. I'm still a little confused as to how I can 'like' photos or add them to my 'favourites' page but I think I will download the app for my iPhone, because that is usually a simpler version of a web-page and I prefer to browse with internet on my phone. 

My photos range from the past 3/4 years. All of them I took myself (apart from the few I am in of course) I have captioned all the photos already on Flickr, here is a quick summary if you'd rather not go through them all. The beach pictures are from my holidays in Sicily. There is a picture of the Eiffel Tower and tea at the Ritz from my trip to paris. Other pictures include; a trip to London Zoo, pretty flowers, me at the O2 arena, The Swiss Alps, The London Eye by night and Jingle Belles (including myself) from a performance at The Royal Albert Hall. 

I have listed my thoughts and advantages/dis-advantages of using images and audio-visual media in today's social media. 

I personally love posting photos on my social network sites, I am careful to set my photos to private if I only want certain people or friends to see them which I think is very important. I know some people who have their photos open to the public and then they get annoyed when others know their 'business' - I say keep them private or just don't post them online! I like to follow pages and accounts that post photos and videos that interest me. Sites such as Instagram, Pintrest, Flickr and Facebook all have thousands of pages to 'like' and 'follow' open to the public. I love to see the new fashion pictures from the official 'Armani' instagram account for example. 

Some advantages...

Online Editing: Some online photo sharing websites allow you to edit photos before uploading them, there are many lighting, brightness and cropping effects to mention but a few. 

Unlimited Storage & Backup: Most online photo sharing service providers offers unlimited storage. When your photos are stored ”in the clouds” off-site central server, your files are secure and you can consider them backed up. If you accidentally delete photos from your computer or your hard disk crashes, you’ll still have them available to you.

Organisation: You can create albums based on time, events, subject matter, etc. When you’re ready to share a particular album with someone, all you have to do is send them a link.

Privacy and Security: You have total control over your photos/videos and can make your albums public or private and share your pictures/videos (or not share) with who ever you want. You can even hide your album/photos from people or search engines and also protect your albums and photos with passwords.

Some Disadvantages...

Unnecessary Posting: people take advantage of the anonymity the internet can provide and resort to writing about or uploading unnecessary content (for example pornography). Some websites like HubPages and YouTube keep the filth out, sites like Facebook have enough privacy settings to keep out the unwanted stuff.

Un professionalism: Keeping work and personal accounts/info separate. Your boss or your colleagues can see what you post on social networking sites. Some things people post are not appropriate for them to see, it certainly doesn't help you in any way! On the contrary it could land you in a lot of trouble.

Criminal Incidents: Online social networking is very popular among teenagers & adults today; there have been many criminal incidents, which have occurred due to overexposed networking. You should avoid contacting strangers on websites like Facebook where most of us share a lot of intimate information between friends and family, it is essential to be aware of what posts you make public. 

I would advise people to try to keep all photos, videos, wall posts, tweets, blogs and discussions more general with a view to share information with others only. On a public forum or website avoid making racist comments, jokes etc. Don't share too much personal information
, keep your professional life separate from personal social sites and Stick to mostly sharing general info.

To sum it up, I would say that take advantage of all the good things online social networking has to offer but be careful while using it.