[source : actual screenshot of past www.myshutterspace.com home page]
Oh, those fine days of browsing the fine photos, and profiles, of fellow photography enthusiasts on www.myshutterspace.com. The thrill of uploading one of my fine art photos, having like-minded people send friend requests, viewing their galleries, and meeting excellent photographers while simultaneously developing appreciation for photography, as well as my eye and skill for the art. Then that tragic morning, when I attempted to log into my account, and it was all gone. I was a widower left rummaging through the addict for memories of love lost - the main difference being that all of MY memorabilia (uploaded photos, friend list, comments on (and from) fellow photo-enthusiast friends, etc.) had gone up in flames like a cheap cigarette.
Although my love affair with www.myshutterspace came to a traumatic end, it was a lovely ride, and although "My Shutter Space" is now just another fleeting ex-lover, she taught me much about the nature of love, life, and art. I hope she is doing well, and found some inner contentment - somewhere out there in the ether...
But all is not lost. The main reason why social media photo-sharing sites (and there have now been several : including www.picturesocial.com, etc.) have gone the way of the Atari 2600 was the result of one fundamental issue : inability to monetize in the long term. These sites were actually extremely well designed for functionality and visual appeal, with "Top Trending" photo sections, personal gallery pages for each profile, a comments section under each photo, suggested "friends", etc. The value of these sites for photographers was/is priceless. Being able to look at, comment on, and receive feedback from other serious photographers, in a casual, friendly (and even somewhat anonymous) environment, can be as valuable as taking a paid, university-level photography course. The fact that these sites were totally FREE made it even more of a tragic parting.
So, this is where the blockchain revolution - specifically in it's new manifestation, SteemIt.com - comes to rescue. It is obvious, by simply clicking on the "photography" hashtag on the right column of this page (and most others), and then doing a quick browse of the stream of photo posts, that there is a plethora of serious photographers (in addition to some not-so-serious - or perhaps more accurately, "evolving" - ones) continuously sharing photos. In addition, because SteemIt is backed by the blockchain, there is better assurance that these photos are rightfully owned by the poster (otherwise they will be weeded out by flagging), and that the photos will not disappear at some point in the future (as did the non-blockchain photo sites, like www.myshutterspace.com), thereby erasing all of the poster's past photos, comments, friend's list, etc.
Then there is the issue of monetization - both on the level of the individual photographer and the platform as a whole. Unlike www.myshutterspace.com, and the like - including Flickr - on SteemIt it is possible for individual photographers to earn income on their photos, by uploading photos, upvoting and getting upvoted, commenting and receiving comments, etc. At the same time, the SteemIt platform is able to monetize on all the photo-sharing activities by drawing in new members to the site through the continuous flow of photo-sharing activities by members throughout the web. That is, each photo shared outside of the main SteemIt site (such as via social media sites, web site embeds, etc.) holds the potential to drawn new Steemians into the platform. In the end, this benefits EVERYONE, as it strengthens the SteemIt network, as well as the value of Steem cryptocurrency. The result is the the platform expands, high-quality photos are posted as a result of the increasing number of members and curation, everyone earns some money and enjoys the art, and all is well in the multiverse - or at least one sector of it.
As this is an introductory post on the topic I will conclude by asking readers to take a look at the www.myshutterspace.com site page screenshot above, and then search for similar screenshots with a Google search query such as "myshutterspace screenshot". Since the site is now deader than polyester bell-bottoms, this is the only way we can access some examples of the site when it was in action. But that is all that is really needed in order to start developing this idea and put it into action. The next step would be to put a call out to any developers who find value in this idea, and can bring it forth into reality. As I am not a seasoned programmer - but more of a marketing and content guru - I can simply get the ball rolling by proposing the idea. It would then be my pleasure to add additional feedback to anyone who is able to make the idea happen. I am also not sure if anyone else has posted about this topic, but since a quick search didn't find anything, I figured it can't hurt to put this out anyway.
So, I hope that those who read this will find value in this post, and it's main proposal that "we" (Steemians) raise the value and functionality of the photography section of this platform to the next level, which will benefit EVERYONE, as well as providing an EXTREMELY fun, and valuable, element to SteemIt, as well as the art of photography itself.
Please feel free to let me know your thoughts. Although upvotes and all the other usual goodies are welcomed, the more important objective of this post is to catalyze tangible action towards bringing this idea into reality, as the long term payoff for everyone will be substantial. If this post helps to "mobilize the troops" and propel such action forward then I will consider it my good deed for the day - to counterbalance all the "bad" ones. In addition, if this introductory post is well-received then I can potentially follow up with more detailed ones to help develop the idea further, if that becomes helpful.
Over and out,
@TranscriptJunky