I view, therefore I belong?
Well before we started calling it "social networking", online communities
offered us a group experience, and, at least as advertised, a central part of
that experience was being able to share photographs. When Excite Clubs, for instance,
transposed into something else (I don't really remember what) one of the main
concerns was how club members might keep sharing photos. (I saved instructions
on that from seven years ago.) But of course something
different is taking place today. If, back then, we joined groups and then shared
photos, today it's through the sharing of photos that we finding ourselves "belonging"
to various ad-hoc groups. When we subscribe to someone's Flickr photostream we
establish a relationship, even though we don't really join anything.
Go to: To hold in our hands.