Flicker Groups, Lumix LX3

Flicker Groups, Lumix DMC-LX3
By Andrew Schneider

Intro

The flicker group for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 camera is an excellent resource for the many people with this camera. It puts everyone in the world with the camera and their experiences with it in the same room. There are many groups similar to this on flicker, each comprised of similar people with similar goals. There are experts and beginners, all communicating with each other. The major components of this website to be reviewed are its structure, admin, and users. The structure is the layout, feel and kind of how the site works. The admin is the regulator of the site, and keeps the page fresh. The users are the most important part, asking questions and answering them from their own perspectives.

Site Structure

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 group is part of the larger site, flicker, which is part of yahoo. Flicker is, all about photos so most the groups reflect similar topics. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 group is “public” and has two main parts, the pool and discussions. The pool is where all the group members can upload their pictures taken with the camera and comment on them. People also ask questions on how they took that picture and people are usually happy to reply, to share their information and show how clever they were. There are over 53,000 photos on the group’s pool, all taken with the camera, demonstrating its capabilities. The second part of the page is its discussion board. This is where people can post their questions and get replies from people who had the same questions and figured them out. It is an amazing tool. It is much more reliable, quicker, and honest then getting an answer from Panasonic.com about the camera. Members simply post a question or topic and people start replying to it. Many questions can be answered on the discussion board. What is the best setting to shoot in? Where can I edit my RAW photos? How well will a third party battery work? and Where can I download the new update? The information in the boards is very accurate. There is really no reason to lie about something and there are enough people on to spot and correct errors. This is where the admin comes in.

Admin

The Admin for this page enforces the rules and keeps the page fresh. He usually relies on people reporting wrong doers, violating terms and conditions and posting inappropriate content. There is one admin and three moderators, along with the 4,486 members. The admin also ads topics to discuss and pools, encouraging people to take pictures of a theme and post them. It keeps the page interesting and engaging. The three moderators also have the job of making sure all content is appropriate and stop spammers. People will sometimes make groups and spam advertizing, porn, and other obscenities in the group’s pool and discussion board. These positions are all volunteer. Things the admin and moderators can do is make the group public or closed. Public makes anyone able to join and instantly participate in the groups boards. A closed group is by invite only. This is done to keep out spammers.

Users

The users of the page add to the discussion and pool. The users are the true life to this page. There are over 4,000 people willing to ask questions and share what they know about the camera. People ask questions like, “How do I use a histogram?” and within a six hours there are seven responses from people who know how to answer the question, for that specific camera. Questions on general photography tips are also welcome. How to photograph a new born? How to make good portrait shots with a wide angle lens? Both the users and admin make this possible. For this group, there have been little instances of users violating any rules so the discussions are always clean and professional. The pool is where members can upload a maximum of five pictures a day. There are 53,113 photos and videos in the pool and growing with thousands of comments from group members. People are always willing to share how they got the shot and how it was edited. People can discover new possibilities with their camera, such as infrared, night time, and time elapsed shots. Other sites that review the camera mostly list facts about the camera’s zoom, Mega Pixel, and aspect ratios. This group can help you when, inevitable, you still have questions, or have a problem that isn’t common. There is even a discussion for what to do if the camera is dropped and something on it does not work, and success/fail stories of people trying to fix it. The users are what make this page such a useful tool for everyone with this camera.
The idea of this web page is simple and it works. It brings everyone with the same camera and same questions into the same room. Priceless information is freely shared and exchanged by people who just want to be helpful. It is so easy anyone can use it. The structure, admin, and users of this site are all impressive.

Rating = 5/5 An absolutely wonderful, useful tool.

flicker. 2009. 15 Oct 2009 .