I first became interested in Yelp.com while looking at reviews of libraries, and I posted about this at my professional blog : Yelp and Other Local Information Sites. But then I joined Yelp, and got really interested in adding listings and reviews for local businesses, especially those small, independent businesses that are important to me, some of which are in my own neighborhood.
I still add reviews, but what I have found I really like doing is adding photographs to Yelp.com. These are all photos that I also add to Flickr, and they are mostly not very creative. In fact, that’s really almost the aspect of this that I like best. I feel like I am on assignment for Yelp to add photographs to local businesses and institutions, especially ones that don’t already have any photographs.
I don’t try to be artistic with these, I try to be straight, accurate, basic. I take a picture of the business, or occasionally of just the sign, and I try to provide objective, identifying information.
I don’t have any strong sense of commitment about this. I know that Yelp.com is a commercial venture, and that users like me who contribute content are providing them with free content that in effect they are selling to others. I also am aware that my photographs are a free PR or marketing service to a lot of small businesses and organizations who may be completely unaware of Yelp. That’s fine with me — this is a totally voluntary activity, one that I do for my own reasons. It’s one of the ways that I document ordinariness. It encourages me to take pictures of everyday places that we take for granted, but that could disappear overnight.
My Yelp Photos — This is the link to all my Yelp photos
