Flickr; Explore

Isn't it sad how we find ourselves, from time to time, being sucked into the pursuit of fame and glory? Though in this instance I can claim I am merely pleased to accept the validation of my peers as well as the masses. What the hell am I talking about? The title to this entry should provide a clue, but just in case you're still in the dark, let me explain.

I enjoy, as I have from the age of about seven, the hobby of photography. So when I stumbled onto Flickr, a photo sharing site on the internet, wild horses could not have stopped me joining. Since march in 2005 I have been uploading my pictures so that my fellow members can critique them or ignore them as they may. Naturally I want to receive praise; which brings us to Explore.

Explore is amongst other things a popularity chart. Each day approximately 3.5 million pictures are uploaded to Flickr. Flickr rates each picture on 'Interestingness'. How 'Interesting' a picture is is based on a secret algorithm that takes into account such things as how many views a picture gets, who's looking, whether they leave a comment, how they found the picture or if they favourited it. Each day the top 500 pictures are placed in the Explore section. Where other members can peruse the best pictures of the day. There is also the 'Last 7 days Interesting' section where you can look at the most Interesting pictures from the past week. To get into Explore you must have posted a good or popular picture. The 'last seven days' feature makes it self feeding, the added exposure ensures more comments are left thus pushing up the ranking of a picture.

I have had 18 of my pictures in the Explore section. Though as it is not a fixed chart, but retrospectively amended, some have dropped out over time. I presently (As I type this blog entry) have 12 pictures in Explore. I have never had a picture in the 'Last seven days' section. All my pictures have crept up the chart slowly, proving their worth but never attracting fame or glory. The highest I have achieved is 113th on the 4th of January 2005 for my picture 'Mirror Ball'.

However on Sunday I posted 'Tide organ' which even I thought was a pretty good picture. It is presently 351st for the 6th of January 2008. I don't know how high it needs to get before it starts showing in the 'Last 7 days' but I'm pretty chuffed nonetheless.

If you have a Flickr account, or indeed if you don't, you can view this picture by clicking on the title of this blog entry. Obviously I'd be pleased if you left some feedback, but don't feel pressured, I want it to stand on its own merits. However, I do hope you like it.