Sometimes I like to go over to the Flickr and look at other peoples photos. We all do. It’s fun to be a voyeur like that sometimes. That’s why the site is so great! I like to look at the families, the older photos as well as the artsy shots. I think the shots with people are more interesting on Flickr. Who’s cute, who’s not… I like to make up little stories in my mind about the people that posed so well, or so awkwardly. It can be quite entertaining. But sometimes a trip into Flickr land can be quite jolting.
Take for instance my experience just last week. There I was cruising the blogs, like we all do. I was led to a Flickr link to something that came up as a warning due to a Safe Search preference. The photo in question was something with folks at a bar event. Nothing nasty. Lawd knows there are better places on the ‘net than Flickr for that! But still. I had never asked for this Safe Search business so I looked into it. I soon found it and shut it off. Is it new? I dunno. It was new to me. So of course I had to make sure it was off. I searched for something dirty…
Yes I know there are better places on the internets for things like that! I think I just covered that. I am trying to tell a story here!!
I actually typed in “penis” in the search field. Just to see. Kinda adolescent, sure, but remember I just was trying to establish that there were no longer limits on my search. Well it turns out that there aren’t that many penises on the Flickr. At least not tagged that way. But the first one I found led me into the most horrific group of photos I have ever seen. You know how sometimes on Flickr you can read the set title better than you can see the thumbnails? Well when the title has to do with destroyed body parts of any kind do not click through. For me at that moment it was too late. It was like that car accident you drove by and couldn’t look away from.
tagged: internet flickr penis safe search
