Quick, post that pic… Now who owns it?

You know the feeling, you just captured this great image from your smart phone or digital camera and want to share it with the world  your friends so you post it to Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or another one of the bazillion social sites on the Web.

Not big deal. Right? Usually not, but you still need to be aware of the shift of ownership on the interwebs.

Twitter is now partnering with Photobucket to improve the sharing and posting of pictures on twitter.com. I have to say it’s a big improvement with the interface when compared to the original twitpic app. Although my Blackberry twitpic API still needs attention.

In the announcement, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said, With a “Twitter native photo-sharing experience, users will own their own rights to their photos.” Wait. What? I thought I already did. They’re mine. I created it. I posted it to my account. While this is true with Twitter’s Terms of Service (TOS) it’s not always a given at other places on the Web.

From flickr and yFrog to MobyPicture to Lockerz, the proliferation of picture sharing/social sites is growing so this article from MediaShift is a detail read of what happens to ownership and the revenue stream potential of your images. The full article is here→

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Chain Letter Photography Project

Sometime in early November, Florida photographer Chip Litherland will load five 35mm cameras with color film, carefully pack them into shipping cases, and mail them to five different photographers around the globe. Each photographer who receives a camera will be challenged to shoot just one picture before they have to ship the camera on to someone else.

This is such an inspiring article on so many levels. The project is named the FOCUSED project—to slow things down. Create with purpose and not adding to the visual clutter that is so common.

Even better, this project will donate from the sale of prints to various youth organizations.

“We’re donating the money to support the organizations that are teaching visual storytelling and helping children develop their voice through photography,” says Litherland in the article. “We’re in this to profit mentally and visually, not monetarily.” Nice!!!

The full article courtesy of wired is here→

To learn more about FOCUSED, please visit www.focusedproject.org.