Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online,
thus enabling the user to share them with others (whether publicly or privately).
This functionality is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate
the upload and display of images. The term can also be loosely applied to the
use of online photo galleries that are setup and managed by individual users,
including photoblogs. The first photo sharing sites originated during the mid
to late 1990s primarily from service providing online ordering of prints (photo-finishing),
but many more came into being during the mid-2000s with the goal of providing
permanent and centralised access to a user's photos, and in some cases video
clips too. This has resulted in different approaches to revenue generation and
functionality amongst providers. Whilst photoblogs tend only to display a chronological
view of user-selected medium-sized photos, most photo sharing sites provide
multiple views (such as thumbnails, and slideshows), the ability to classify
photos into albums as well as add annotations (such as captions or "tags") and
comments. Some photo sharing sites provide complete online organisation tools
equivalent to desktop photo-management applications. Desktop photo-management
applications may include their own photo-sharing features or integration with
sites for uploading images to them. There are also desktop applications whose
sole function is sharing photos, generally using peer-to-peer networking. Basic
photo sharing functionality can be found in applications that allow you to email
photos, for example by dragging and dropping them into pre-designed templates.
Photo sharing is not confined to the web and personal computers but is also
possible from portable devices such as cameraphones, using applications that
can automatically transfer photos as you take them, to photo sharing sites and
photoblogs, either directly or via MMS. Some cameras now come equipped with
wireless networking and similar sharing functionality themselves.
