Tagging and Flickr

Tagging builds community on Flickr because it allows you to find exactly what you are looking for. And, for you to find these images you are likely coming in contact with someone or many people with the same interest, in the same location, in the same profession, with similar or new and exciting ideas, etc. This can be very useful for us as librarians. In the past I have done searches for library displays to see what other people are doing. Sharing images, and tagging them appropriately so that they can be found, could be a useful way to do professional networking and share information and ideas. As I said in my previous blog, tags allow you to connect with something on a deeper level. For example, since the person who took the photo of the statue in my last blog tagged it with “Mercyhurst” I was able to find it and would never had thought to look for something like that on my own. Based on instances like this I think it is the proper use of tags that would allow idea sharing to take place.
On a side note I have to say that I agree with the author of Flickr+Libraries= Scary, Scary, Scary. The argument is made that community monitoring of the site and education is better than banning it. I think that this is where the future is going. Web 2.0 is about user interaction…and there are always going to be crazy weirdo users out there. Are we going to block and ban the root of what makes up 2.0? It would be safer and easier but it would certainly delay progress. I agree that the answer lies in the combination of monitoring and education. Now my question is who should be doing the educating. Certainly not us. No one can educate the entire population on the new and ever evolving websites out there. We need a broader topic lesson on internet safety. And, based on what I have seen through Learning 2.0 people on these sites are still sharing way to much personal information.