Media Technologies: Flickr

Flickr is an “online photo management and sharing application” (Flickr, 2010). “According to Nielsen/NetRatings, Flickr is currently the fastest-growing photo sharing site on the web, and the 5th most popular overall” (McGee, 2010). Since the terms of service strictly prohibit using the service for commercial uses, businesses must get indirect marketing exposure through Flickr. McGee offers several tips for doing this. First is to use the company’s web address as the screen name for all photos. Then create a profile and describe who you are and what the business does.  McGee warns to keep it low key, however. Then the user can upload photos related to the business. “A general contractor, for example, would upload photos of homes or commercial buildings you’ve built. A winery would upload photos of grape harvest, the winemaking process, and even your tasting room and close-ups of your wine bottles (McGee, 2010).  McGee provides several other tips on how to use Flickr.

Flickr has recently added a video feature. They require videos to be 90 seconds maximum and must be created by the person posting the video. So downloading a video from YouTube and posting onto Flickr is prohibited.

Businesses should pay attention to what gets posted on Flickr. McGee warns that product users may post photos that could portray the product or service in a negative light. Of course, they may also post positive images of the product too. Businesses need to stay abreast of all the possible uses of Flickr as well as other social media. Consumers are quickly shifting the Internet paradigm to one that is called “grassroots or citizen journalism” (Hearn, Foth, and Gray, 2009). The old “word of mouth” advertising has a whole new meaning with sites like Flickr, Twitter, and others, as product users are wielding more influence on other consumers than ever before.

Sources

Flickr. (2010). About Flickr.  Yahoo, Inc. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from http://www.flickr.com/about/

Hearn, G., Foth, M., and Gray, H. (2009). Applications and implementation of new media in corporate communications: An action research approach.  Corporate Communications, 14(1), pp. 49-61. Retrieved September 21, 2010, from ProQuest database.

McGee, M. (2010). How to market on Flickr. Small Business Search Marketing. Retrieved September 20, 2010, from http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/articles/marketing-on-flickr/