Sharing Photos on the Web

Nancy Muir

The family photo album of yesteryear has gone online

Posted June 6, 2011

By Nancy Muir

There are a great many sites on the Internet that allow you to share photos or videos with others. With cell phones able to capture photos and video, you could be sharing images as you capture them with your grandkids, spouse or friends. Sharing can happen via email or through photo/video sharing sites such as Flickr or YouTube, or by posting images on your own social networking page.

That ability means that you can stay in touch and show folks what you’ve been up to in a convenient, immediate way. Photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Shutterfly, PhotoBucket, and Snapfish allow you to create an account, upload images, and share them with others. You can also see photos others have posted to see your grandchild’s birthday party, son’s vacation, or friend’s pet’s pictures. You can transfer images into your computer from your digital camera or cell phone and upload them to one of these services, and, most are free to use.

You can also take photos with your cell phone or portable device such as an iPad and email them directly to friends. This provides an immediacy never before known, taking a picture of what you’re seeing and placing it in your friend’s inbox moments later.

You may have a video camera and like to share your videos. Many phones and devices also contain video cameras. You can take a video and upload it to your computer, edit it, and post or e-mail it. You can also use video conferencing programs to show a person on the other end of the conference what you’re looking at right that moment.

Video sharing sites such as YouTube and PhanFare give you a way to share your videos with the public. Who knows; your next video could go viral and be viewed by millions of people!

And don’t forget your social networking page on Facebook, Eons, Myspace or wherever. These sites allow you to post photos and videos and control access to them.

Both image sharing sites and photo and video editing software are often free, so why not start sharing images today? Visit one of the sites mentioned here to get going!

Nancy Muir is the author of more than sixty books on technology topics. She was the original author of a series on technology for seniors including the titles Using the Internet Safely For Seniors For Dummies, Laptops For Seniors For Dummies, iPad For Seniors For Dummies, and Computers For Seniors For Dummies from Wiley Publishing. Nancy has taught technical writing and Internet safety at several universities, is the author of a highly regarded introduction to computers textbook used in community colleges, and has been a consultant to technology companies including Microsoft and Hewlett Packard. Her website, TechSmartSenior.com, helps people over 50 take advantage of all that computer technology has to offer.