Flickr or not

I've held off on writing this blog mostly because I work 55 hours every week to make this grad school thing possible, and I literally have been choosing between sleep and homework. I have also hesitated because, Sunday night when I created my Flickr gallery, I was hardcore hating on it.

I never used Flickr or Delicious before this class, and I doubt that I will when this class is over. When I began my first interaction with Flickr, I felt out of place. I do not have an overwhelming passion for photography, nor do I like to share my life and passions with the world. As I stared at the screen thinking how much I dislike it, I knew I had to pick something I like to create a gallery. I love the city. I've been away for 2 years, and I'm homesick for it despite the fact that it is not my "real" home. I wanted to find pictures of Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh places that meant something to me, so I started by simply searching "Pittsburgh". My vagueness was rewarded with pages upon pages of pictures which I browsed leisurely. Finding a couple photos that I thought were aesthetically pleasing, I ran a new search looking for the "University of Pittsburgh". Yes, I am a Pitt alumna.

With this search, I again had several pages to browse. I was pleased that each of my searches seemed to return only items that were relevant while providing enough content that I could browse to find exactly which pictures I wanted to add to a gallery. In addition, Flickr was very easy to use which is one of the reasons it’s popular, I’m sure. However, I think avid photographers probably get the most value from this site because it offers a forum for critiques, community and conversation. I, as a non-photographer, am not looking for these things, so I fear that my Flickr account activity will be short lived. I did find some cool pictures though. :-)

Check out my gallery here!