Sometimes I get on random creative kicks and today was one of those days! Inspired by Vickie Howell’s iLoveToCreate post, I wrote up this blog post for the iLoveToCreate blog and I wanted to do one for my Flickr friends to enjoy as well. Below is a list of 30 reasons you may be a Flickr addict. I’m assuming some of you guys aren’t totally aware of Flickr, but it is where all my photos I post on my blog are housed and it also is a social media venue where I’ve made friends all over the world! It’s a really cool way to meet people and connect with other photographers who share my same style, profession, views, etc. I mean, there’s a Girl with Glasses group! That fits me to a T! By the way, the photo above is of me wearing buttons in the color of the Flickr logo. If you weren’t an avid Flickr user, you prob. wouldn’t understand it, thus why I compiled this list! So now…onto the show!

30 Reasons you may be a Flickr addict…

1. You check your Flickr account at least 10 times a day to see if you have any new comments.

2. You see people and places in public that you would like to "fave".

3. The screen "Hold your clicks a moment…Flickr has hiccups. We are looking into the problem right now." sends you into a state of panic.

4. You have ever attended a local Flickr walk on multiple occasions.

5. You are closer with your Flickr friends than you are with your real life friends.

6. Your real life friends don’t know the secrets you tell to your "Only friends can see this" group.

7. You put your photo in more than 5 groups in the hopes that it will make "Explore".

8. You tag your photo with naughty tags just so it gets more views.

9. When you meet your Flickr friends in real life, you refer to them by their Flickr screen name.

10. You would rather stay in on a Saturday night and surf your Flickr contacts over going out with friends to a dinner and a movie.

11. You and the Flickr contacts you do know gossip about other Flickr contacts that you have.

12. You have to sneak to check your stream when you are around your friends and family and when they realize you are gone, they ask, "Are you on Flickr again?"

13. You have www.bighugelabs.com’s Scout page bookmarked and you visit it every day to see if any of your photos have made Explore.

14. Depression sets in if you spend several hours hours color correcting an image only to find it gets little to no comments.

15. Your self esteem plummets or excels based on the number of faves your photos get.

16. You take photos of certain subject matters (candy, shoes, feet) or do special effects like HDR on your photos because you know it will be more likely to make Explore.

17. You feel really guilty if you go a few days without replying to comments or commenting on your Flickr friends pages. ( www.flickr.com/photos/garris this is for you)

18. You actually fill out Flickr testimonials for your contacts.

19. You actually participate and follow the rules in the Post 1, Comment 2 photo groups.

20. If someone mentions the phrase "365", "100 strangers", "What’s in my bag?", etc. you immediately know what they mean.

21. You’ve upgraded your camera to impress your Flickr friends (or I guess you could just want to take better photos).

22. You have put yourself in a law-breaking, death defying situation just so you could get the "shot" that’s going to get your photo noticed on Flickr.

23. You’ve ever created your own off the wall/niché Flickr group and you administer it religiously and hold the members by strict guidelines.

24. If you meet a fellow photographer, the first thing you ask is "Are you on Flickr?"

25. You actually welcome bad clipart and twinkly graphics because it means more hits to your photo.

26. You actually research/google ways to get more of your photos into Explore (ex. posting at certain peak hours).

27. When you go on vacation, you forego staying at a hotel, opting to spend the night with your Flickr friends instead.

28. You have a Flickr twin(s) or soulmate that likes everything you like and shares your same sensibilities, profession, beliefs. You know that if you met in person, you would be best friends (mine are www.flickr.com/photos/starrdesign/ & www.flickr.com/photos/peptogirl/

29. You send your other Flickr friends actual snail mail filled with goodies cause you know they’ll like it and also photograph it and share it with others.

30. Your goal in life is for you photo to be featured on the Flickr home page (that is, if they ever do change the ones that have been up there forever).

And now a few Flickr tidbits (for all my non-Flickr friends)

– What is Explore you ask? Read about it on Big Huge Lab’s FAQ section. There’s some simple,common language explanations for Scout (the program that lets you know if you made the Flickr Explore pages) as well.

– If you really want a full rundown of Flickr, visit their help section and get schooled. Like most programs, it’s the type of thing, you need to go play around with, upload, and then research to get a full grasp of.

How do I use Flickr?

– I love using it for trend/idea research. For example, look at these amazing photos that popped up when I typed in “Craft + Supplies” in the search engine. If you’re into fashion, for example, you may be inspired by Flickr groups like Wardrobe Remix.

– I love getting inspiration from there. If I were to do an engagement photo session, I would research photo ideas before I go out in the field. Check out the amazing ones I found in a simple search.

– It’s great photo storage. Admittedly, I don’t save every photo I take on my hard drive or a disk, but Flickr backs up my photos and stores them if I need them. My stream goes back almost 2 and a half years now, so I know where to go if I need to find a photo I took on the fly.

– As a graphic designer, there are so many times when I use a photo blown up in the background for texture and appeal. If I need something red for example, I simply search in my archives for a red image to use. I don’t always find exactly what I need, but it’s there as a possibility if I need it!

Do you love Flickr and have a “You might be a flickr addict” comment to add? Post it below!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa