Meh - Flickr explore?

[coastalconn]

So whats the deal with explore? I just figured out I have 4 pictures that have been on explore. Just an an algorithmic program that picks pictures? Should I be excited or just meh, like I feel? I keep getting posts that say congrats on explore... I saw the odds were like 1 in 17000 pictures or something. Of course I put them in a set and labeled it explore because that is what everyone else does... What are your thoughts?

 

[Overread13 1]

Well explore is many things to many people. For some its a must have goal and they dedicated hours to tagging, joining groups and getting views in the hope that they get onto explore. The code itself is random and changes every so often to prevent people guessing the code as much as possible.

Really all it is is a code that tries to measure the "interestingness" of photos and then flag them to the flickr community. Of course with such a massive pool of people and pictures some dross gets mixed in, but honestly unless you're really promoting your photos heavily on flickr to get into explore (and ergo trying to cheat) I would take it as a compliment and enjoy the fact that many people enjoy your photography

 

[rexbobcat]

It depends. Sometimes the photos on there are incredible and inspiring, and sometimes it's just instagrammed photos of someone's dinner at P.F. Chang's.

All of the photos, or at least most of them used to be amazing and beautiful, but I thin they changed the algorithm and now it's hit and miss for me lol

 

[Derrel]

WHERE can I find some P.F. Chang dinner pics? Please point me to some URL's, preferably for pics with SUPER-hot chicks eating big meals...and wearing white blouses, Ray-Bans, and uh...drinking diet Pepsi!!! I've been looking for that kinda stuff, and now you tell me it exists!!! Thank heavens for Flickr Explore! And Thank You, rexbobcat, for making my dreams come true!

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

I started a thread recently similar to this:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ns/302384-flickr-explore-interestingness.html

I've had a handful make it as well. Can't say I care too much that the photos made it, I'm more interested in how the algorithm works.

The hive-mind of the Internet has returned an utterly useless, unscientific response: "take interesting pictures"

 

[enzodm]

I could be interested too in the algorithm. I had just one picture there and it was made with my extracheap A1200 in bad low conditions with lots of noise, and went there almost before it was visited by people. So while at first I could suppose that the algorithm is page rank-like, maybe not only.

 

[sm4him]

I had no idea there even WAS something called Flickr Explore, never mind how photos were selected for it, until I saw Rotanimod's thread recently. I've been using Flickr for quite some time, sporadically, and for about a year fairly extensively. To my knowledge, none of my photos have ever made it to Explore. I don't know, and I don't care.
I post them to Flickr so that family and friends can view more of them than what I post on FB or my blog. If the "public" sees and appreciates them, that's certainly a bonus, and I'd definitely consider it a compliment--but it's kinda like being ranked #23 in the BCS rankings--might be kinda cool, but in the end it just doesn't do a thing for you.

Now, 500px is a whole different story. I only use it for what I consider my better photos, and when a recent upload starts getting a lot of likes, I start obsessing about whether it will make it into "Upcoming" and then into "Popular." I've had several make it to "Upcoming," but I think only two have made it into "Popular."
Again, really, it just doesn't matter, and I don't know why I care. I guess it's the fact that you can "see" the progress the photo is making, as it's "score" slowly creeps up towards something high enough to move it to the Popular category.

Either one--500px "Popular" category or Flickr Explore--ultimately just kinda stroke the ego, I guess. Nothing wrong with that, once in a while. Keeps me thinking maybe I should hang with this photography thing a while longer.

 

[Overread13 1]

500pix works a little "better" mostly because, like in the past for flick, it has a vastly smaller user pool than flickr does now. Furthermore with 500pix marketing itself more toward photographers than everybody it tends to attract a certain kind of photographer. I suspect if 500pix ever makes it to being as widely used and as popular as flickr that the overall "quality" would drop. You'd still have your shining stars, just more hidden amidst the noise.

 

[coastalconn]

If anyone cares this is the easy way to find out if you have been explored. Email address works best for some reason Scout: Find your photos in Flickr's Explore pages.