About the Program  

What is photo/video sharing? (officially)

Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others (whether publicly or privately). This functionality is provided through both web sites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_sharing

Video Sharing refers to web sites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Some services may charge, but the bulk of them offer free services. Many services have options for private sharing and other publication options. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_sharing_websites 

(Unofficially)

Flickr is probably the most popular photo sharing site on the web. Users can create accounts, upload photos to be stored and/or shared or just search for photos already posted. Other photo sharing sites include Picasa, Webshots  and Photobucket.

Youtube is the most popular video sharing site on the web, like Flickr, users can create accounts, upload videos to be stored and/or shared or search for videos already posted.  Other video sharing sites include Vimeo, Metacafe   and DailyMotion.

Watch this Youtube video for more information about Photo Sharing using Flickr!

Video "Online Photo Sharing in Plain English" by Common Craft

Now let's use these technologies!

First

Go to Flickr and take the tour, this will give you a pretty good idea what this site is all about.  Flickr was one of the first sites to exploit the use of tags to organize content and create groups of users with common interests. Find out more about tags and groups.

Second

Go to the Explore Flickr page.  Here you can find most recent uploads and most popular tags, you can also check out some sets and groups.   Poke around a bit on Flickr and find a image that interests you.  Upload the photo to your blog one of two ways: if you create an account on Flickr, you can use Flickr's blogging tools or if not, you can use Blogger's photo upload tool.

Third

Go to Youtube and do some exploring. Youtube also has user-generated tagging for retreiving videos on specific topics. Use the search box and find the video "Electing U.S. Presidents in Plain English" (you can watch it if you would like).  When you find it, you will see a blue box on the right. Click on link "more info" and here you will find the tags assigned to this video. Use the search box again and enter terms related to a topic that interests you. See if you can find a relevant video that you might enjoy viewing.

Fourth

Now that you've explored and played with photo and video sharing, record your impressions of Flickr and Youtube on your blog.  Please include an explanation on what interested you about the Flickr image you uploaded.