mottershead Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Yesterday, I wanted to send an eCard to my daughter for Valentine'sDay. I discovered that most eCard sites are pretty cheesy. Then itoccurred to me that this would be a nice addition to photo.net. So Iimplemented the ability to send eCards from photo.net last night. Abit, ahem, late, for sending Valentine's cards, but I hope people willenjoy the feature. The button for sending a photo.net eCard is on each photo. It is free. At the moment, consider it beta test software. I'd appreciate anyfeedback on it that you care to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robidooo Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Since one can send any photo, is the author of the photo notified that his photo has been used as an eCard? No need to know who send it, but just the fact that it was used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanBowers Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 What an excellent idea Brian; nice one! Just tried and it works perfectly. Bit of a shame it doesn't attach a copy of the photo, but this way it is certain to draw loads of people to the site. top marks! Ah - just tried to click on the name underneath the photo: Not Found The requested URL was not found on this server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bens Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Brian, I just tried it and like the idea very much. As my daughter would say, "it's hecka tight." One question, though -- would you please confirm that the names and email addresses we provide will not be used for any purposes other than to send the ecard? I see your note that the information will be kept private, and hope I am understanding that this is what you mean. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrell_m Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 You know what-I really dislike this new feature and am thinking about withdrawing a fair number of pictures in my portfolio which I wouldn't have put up if I'd known they were going to be this easy to distribute. The E-card thing makes a big change to photonet, as it alters the nature of how the photos are accessed and, if successful, who will access the photos. Just two of problems I imagine arising are<br> 1-An incredible increase in copyright infringment, for the most part undetected (and undetectable) by the photographers concerned. <br> 2-An obvious spam opportunity for abusers out there.</p> <p>Generally it seems the rate of change at photo net is slow. A new policy seems to undergo a rigorous debate process before implementation. However, this change seems to have been made on the spur of the moment, without any real thought or discussion going into it. Sure, there are possible benefits, for both the site owners and the photographers using the site. But there is an equal, if not greater, potential for abuse which I think you simply haven't thought through enough.</p> <p>By all means press ahead with this idea-but maybe a period of discussion/consultation would be useful. Perhaps it would be worth consulting a few dozen long term members to get feedback on your idea before you continue with its extremely sudden implementation.</p> <p>Darrell M</p> <p>ps-just how easy was its implementation. I've written a few scripts in the past and don't think I could have knocked something off with quite the amount of speed you say you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurie_m Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 A great feature Brian. My sister always wants to know when I post new work. She also consistently forgets how to get to my member page. Now I can just send her an e-card and she can click on the link. Great Idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanBowers Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 All other links on the page work fine. It occurs to me that given how worried some people are about the net, (re: recent conversations about paying for PN by Credit Card..) maybe a bit more text in the email would reassure them; maybe a straight link to www.photo.net? It does look a little bit similar to alot of the spam i receive... just an idea. thanks, Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanBowers Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Darrell - all photos on PN are as easy to send as this already: simply right click and select SEND or EMAIL PICTURE.. depending on your windows version... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrell_m Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 For sure-but this is a far more open invitation. A photo will whizz around the web a lot faster like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bens Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Duncan, I know your point that you can send the photo already by email easily was addressing a different issue, but I wanted to point out that by sending an ecard you are sending a link that, when opened, allows the viewer to see not only your card but also access your entire portfolio, which I like as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith turrill Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 <p>I tested it and the eCard function seems to work well. All that is getting mailed out is a link. There is nothing going out that isn't openly available on the web.<p> <p>You might want to add an <i>"If you received this message in error, please delete."</i> Some of the content on the website is controversial and eCard recipients may not be a willing party to the terms and conditions. A disclaimer might help protect website from mischief.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottershead Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 Please note that we are not sending anybody's photos via email. In effect, the "ecard" is simply a link to a photo in the Gallery, accompanied by a message. There are many other places where people can find links to photo.net Gallery photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottershead Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 We are keeping track of the ecards being sent, and we could easily add that information to the details displayed about the photo. For that matter, if the feature is popular, we could use it to create a new "Top Photos" ranking: photos sent most frequently as ecards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masoud a. Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 A very nice idea ....i tried it and like the format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bens Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Thanks Brian, but I must admit I am growing increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of giving the names and email addresses of third parties to the site (or any other site for that matter) without an assurance that these names and addresses won't be used for any purposes other than sending the ecard link. Can you please confirm that they won't be used for any other purposes other than sending the ecard link? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertChura Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 I tried it and got this error message! Problem with Your Input to www.photo.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We had a problem processing your entry: extra characters after close-quote Please back up using your browser, correct it, and resubmit your entry. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottershead Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 Any email addresses that are entered into the system for this feature are covered by our Privacy Policy, whcih already covers this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertChura Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 My first 2 tries never worked but my 3rd and 4th worked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coho Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Hypothetical situation: I have a new image that I want all my friends to rate. I send them an e-card with the image and we get instant mate rate. Of course, you can see who would be using this feature in this way. But it does concern me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrell_m Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Hypothetical-I have a photo, unique and humourous. X likes it and sends it to his friend Y, an office worker in the City, who also likes it and sends the link to everyone in his address book. Lots of traffic is generated (good) but what kind of traffic? Photonet is a site for enthusiasts in the art of photography but could quickly become a more general site where visitors do not accord the same respect to issues such as copyright as the current users. Hey, if you have an email address you can join, rate, comment on any picture very quickly. Of course, this possibility currently exists-but photonet only seeks an audience of photography enthusiasts. The ecard brings the possibility of a whole new audience whose presence we may quickly regret.<br> I could be wrong but, despite everything I've read above, my worries remain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bens Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Thanks Brian, having just read through the Privacy provisions linked at the bottom right of the page, I can see why its not so easy to confirm what I asked. I support this idea, but I still have some questions, so let me try to hone in on my concern. As far as I can tell, the Privacy provisions were not written with the kind of ecard recipient information we would be providing to you in mind. That is, without the third parties' consent or visit to the site, we are giving you their name and email addresses. I am reluctant to do that if there is the possibility that these names and addresses will be used to solicit or send other information to these third parties besides my ecard, or sold or distributed to other websites that might do that kind of thing. Your Privacy statement does not really address this situation, as it is concerned really with "users," which are contemplated as people visiting the site, and registering or not registering. In fact, you advise in the document that if you do not want your name to be used, you should not register. But that kind of "opt-out" is not possible for people whose names and addresses are provided without their knowledge or consent (and who become "users" of the site as the result of a linked invitation, rather than by taking some initiative themselves to find it). In fact, the Privacy document could be read to suggest that you will use the ecard recipient information to contact them in the future, as it states: "We use the information we collect from you as a registered user [such as me] to build features that we hope will make the Services more attractive and easier for you to use. This may include better customer support and timely notice of new services [open-ended, not necessarily limited to registered users, therefore possibly suggesting notice of new services would go to ecard recipients]." I do not want to expose my family, friends and acquaintances to the possibility of unsolicited email in the future just because I sent them one of my pictures directly from the site. If you can provide an assurance that this won't occur, I think I would be okay. But without further clarification, I'm afraid I won't be using the ecard feature. I hope you can appreciate my concern. My suggestion would be to revise the Privacy policy to make very clear how this specific ecard recipient data is going to be used and not used by the site, as the statement presently doesn't appear to contemplate this situation and could leave a confusing situation. Appreciate any thoughts you might have, thanks for listening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrell_m Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Hypothetical-I have a photo, unique and humourous. X likes it and sends it to his friend Y, an office worker in the City, who also likes it and sends the link to everyone in his address book. Lots of traffic is generated (good) but what kind of traffic? Photonet is a site for enthusiasts in the art of photography but could quickly become a more general site where visitors do not accord the same respect to issues such as copyright as the current users. Hey, if you have an email address you can join, rate, comment on any picture very quickly. Of course, this possibility currently exists-but photonet only seeks an audience of photography enthusiasts. The ecard brings the possibility of a whole new audience whose presence we may quickly regret.<br> I could be wrong but, despite everything I've read above, my worries remain. A lot of photos here are going to start turning up in other places. This happens already. Get ready for it to happen a hell of a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottershead Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 David, all this feature does is to "tart up" emailing someone a link to a photo page on photo.net as an "ecard", which is already something that someone can do if they want. People intent on mate-rating did not need a fancy ecard feature to send each other email about new photos being posted. In fact, since the "ecards" are being stored in our database (so we can deliver them to the recipients), I would think that mate-raters would avoid using it, since there would be record now in our database. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry ting Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 I suggest to add a new check box 'Allow eCard Feature' (default is checked) when the photographer uploads an image and use this flag to determine whether the 'Send eCard' tab will be available or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottershead Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 Darrell, sending links to a photo on photo.net is not a copyright infringement. A link just facilitates/motivates a person to look at the photo on photo.net, and maybe other photos in the portfolio. That is good, no? That is what we are aiming for with this feature. It is why it is "free" to send a eCard. It basically facilitates person A to tell person B to look at a photo in the Gallery. That is a new visitor to the site, potentially a new member/participant. Why should we depend on Google and Yahoo for all our new visitors? Any copyright infringement comes from people making a copy of the photo and using it for some purpose other than "fair use", such as for an illustration on their own web site, and eCards don't have anything to do with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now