Where? When?

Not only do I admit to being funny sometimes, I will also admit that I am a Flickr addict. I have a Flickr account, but I also have certain other members that I watch like a hawk - with the determination of someone who has a new puppy. I click often, I refresh. But most decidedly, I am obsessed with my own photos... particularly how often they are viewed.

See, Flickr lets you know how many times each photo you post online has been viewed by the world. This can be very flattering or very deflating. I posted a photo on October 17th and it has only been viewed once (er, by Gertie herself) so I deleted it. No sense in keeping what the WORLD says is an uninteresting photo around for other people to confirm its uninterestingness, so I say.

But here's the strange thing, and it really makes the non-technological Gertie think she is extremely ahead of the pack here.... sometimes a photo goes from 14 views to 77 views overnight. OVER. NIGHT. Or, it goes from 23 views one day to 55 views 3 weeks later, and THEN from 55 to 77 in mere hours. HOURS! Even though the photos I have online are COPYRIGHTED - yes, I'm no idiot (and thank you to the one online journal who wanted to use one of my shots for asking before publishing rights).... but I can only assume that someone talking about something searched tags on Flickr and came to a few, proud, innocent Gertie shots and has used them SOMEWHERE without PERMISSION in a public setting!! Is all propriety lost? How else can one account for such assanine hikes in views? Seriously.

And here's where Gertie is thinking ahead of the pack... in my curiosity, I was assured in my head that whomever referenced my photo did so online... so I did a Google Image search hoping to find the title of my images somewhere other than on my Flickr account. No such luck. BUT! DEE DEE DEEEEEEE! Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to TRACK an image that has LEFT an online photo sharing site! Hoo Ha! Lemme tell ya, my Ex Tech BF had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve to find out who had been where for how long, where they came from and where they went after, and I think this would be a phenomenal boon to the online photosharing society [Dawn, please note date and time of pronouncement, as if any such tool comes into fruition in the future I will certainly need an attorney to proclaim my patent-like rights].

Damn. I can't wait for my current career to provide me the funds for all the real shit I'm gonna bring to this world. Hoo ha!