Man's Search for Meaning

As I write, a male friend is wandering round the house looking for a map.

It could be a metaphor for everyday life in Cyberspace.

A great chat about culture, significance and freedom is unfolding
on Boards.ie at the moment.

Read, enjoy... participate...


And for those of us who would like to keep our heads above water
on Flickr, I have just written this:





Joining the various arts and science groups in Flickr offers access to many photos that are not the usual crowd pleasers, like flowers and landscapes.

People are chuffed when Explore winkles out one of their photos that has that
extra "something".

The only way I can keep track of my Explore activity is to key my user name or code name into the BigHugeLabs search. The people who post to my photos don't comment on this and Flickr does not alert you when you are "Explored".

This goes further than vanity publishing.
Flickr's tagging system has been compared unfavourably with del.icio.us, while there are many other new systems that are claimed to be even better.

Jyte.com is getting some attention at the moment.

While this may seem to have little to do with the art of photography, SEO is increasingly important for anybody working in the commercial world.

If nobody sees your work, it may as well not exist.

Also, the geographical aspect, location, is very important on the Net. People look at photos that are culturally significant to them (see Barthes) with more insight and enthusiasm than those from "foreign" cultures.
Since Ireland has such a small population, anybody posting to Flickr may expect to have less hits, overall.

A tip to extend one's audience is to join groups in a foreign language, post now and again on a photo from the Far East, where photography is truly thriving and to a very high standard, and invite photos that you admire to groups where you are subscribed.

I very much like a group called "Mare d'Inverno" ("Winter Sea") where, since it is Italian, so much work looks as if it comes from a Fellini film. Also, Ireland is a remarkable place to take Winter seascapes."