Saturday, November 15, 2008

Photographers Benefit from the Social Media Phenomenon

After coming across an article from the LA Times online, I really began to understand how social media has created a world where anyone can gain fame, and not only kids who makes silly videos that go viral.

The article discusses this photo, which was posted on Roger Eickholt's Flickr page.



Within a few days over 200,000 people had viewed the photo and posted it on blogs and social media sites, and the funny thing is that the photographer had no idea until he was contacted for an interview. He then checked his Flickr, and his followers had gone from 2 to over 100. His story and this photograph have now gained national attention and have been published in a number of newspapers.

This story made me think about how it is impossible to predict what could instigate overnight fame. There are so many people who actively participate in a number of social media applications and endlessly try to create a video or a blog post that will get them attention and notoriety, but many of them never succeed. Then there are people like Eickholt who doesn't even check his Flickr religiously enough to realize his sudden fame. It just shows me that the users really have the power to create this phenomenon, and we are often not in control despite our efforts.

3 comments:

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melwilltell said...

I think it's really cool that sometimes we can get praised for something that we would have never expected anyone else to know about, but do you think that in this case- the photographer was just being humble? I mean, that is a pretty outstanding photograph, and while you may never know the extent of the popularity, I think he still probably knew that this photo was worth taking, uploading and being proud of. Let's just hope that we come upon a treasure like that someday!

W. Bamson said...

This is the first time I've ever heard of Flickr gaining someone internet notoriety. It's really cool to see how the internet can change people's lives (even when they don't expect it). This made me think of how it would benefit people to make online portfolios of their work. Sure artists and graphic designers do it, but why not regular people (or Communication majors)?