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Fact sheet 6 - Video and image sharing

Video and image sharing sites allow users to upload video clips and images to a website for the purpose of allowing others to view the content. For example:

YouTube and Flickr are the most popular image and video sharing tools as of June 2010. This guideline focuses on YouTube and Flickr, but it is recommended that departments investigate other options available.

If publishing via third party video sharing sites, it is required that the video also be published on a Queensland Government website. The Queensland Government’s Consistent User Experience (CUE) Standard– Module 7: Online video provides guidance on the presentation of online video on Queensland Government websites including an online video template which conforms with QGEA. More information about the online video template and the Consistent User Experience Standard, is available or contact the Online Service Unit, Smart Service Queensland.

Accessibility

Use of online video and image sharing websites should comply with Internet Standard  26 - Internet accessibility standards which require accessible alternatives for media. Please refer to the online video section of CUE for guidance on transcripts and captioning. Images should include an alt tag for sight impaired users.

Copyright, permission and ownership

Have your agency’s legal representatives consider the use of online video and image sharing terms and conditions prior to creation of accounts. Be aware of potential loss of copyright or permission required by participants to appear on online video and image sharing websites.

Online video – YouTube

YouTube is an online video sharing site which enables users to upload their own videos or watch others. Users are able to comment, rate and share videos from YouTube.

Using YouTube

Queensland YouTube user

'Where else but Queensland' have a dedicated channel on YouTube. Users are able to view all videos by the owner and subscribe for notifications when new videos are added to the channel.

'Where else but Queensland' have a dedicated have a dedicated channel on YouTube where users are able to view all videos and subscribe for notifications.

Screenshot: 'Where else but Queensland' ad on YouTube

Getting started

  1. Develop a plan as part of your communication strategy before starting setting up a YouTube Flickr account.
  2. Plan what your message is and what videos or photos should be shared.
  3. Decide if you are going to respond to comments, once you answer one you will be expected to continue. Review the moderation of comments section of this Guideline for assistance.
  4. Write guidelines on what content should be promoted and how the account should be monitored.

Read and learn more about YouTube

  1. 'Don't make these mistakes with your Online Brand' from Harvard Business Review

  2. United States Government channel.

Example disclaimer - YouTube

Creators of YouTube channels have 'administrator' access to that channel and the ability to remove comments by other YouTube users posted on the channel. The conditions of use for YouTube do not restrict administrators of YouTube channels from disclosing the types of comments they will remove from the channels.

The following text should be made available from a prominent location on any official YouTube channel:

'Comments posted by you on this channel will be removed by the administrator if it:

  1. impersonates any other person or falsely claim to represent any other person, whether living or dead, real or fictitious
  2. it is abusive, harassing, threatening or violates the legal rights of others
  3. is misleading, deceptive, false, defamatory or libellous
  4. is a statement that may interfere with or prejudice the course of or otherwise deals with civil or criminal proceedings that are presently before any court, tribunal, commission or similar body or any investigation by the police, Crime and Misconduct Commission or other agency
  5. it seeks to raise personal matters which have been dealt with or concluded judicially
  6. uses insulting, threatening or provocative language or language that is hateful towards a certain group of people
  7. incites hatred on the basis of race, religion, gender, nationality or sexuality or other personal characteristic
  8. includes indecent, obscene, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate language, information or other content
  9. cinfringes the intellectual property rights of others or discloses their confidential information
  10. contains any commercial advertising material
  11. is not relevant to the themes currently being discussed and sought to be addressed in connection with the [Insert description of the channel] or
  12. publishes personal information without consent nor use or collect information from the website concerning any person or group, or for commercial or illegal purposes.'

Image sharing - Flickr

Flickr is an online photo management and sharing application.

  • Upload photos to an account via a browser, email or camera phone
  • Edit your photos online to remove redeye, add text, crop and add effects
  • Organise your photos
  • Share with adjustable privacy controls
  • Mark where your photos were taken on maps.
  • How to get the most out of flikr 
  • Flickr forum 
  • Flickr is not for commercial use. Flickr is intended for personal use and if you are found to be promoting or attempting to market yourself through Flickr, your account may be disabled.

Using Flickr

  • How to get the most out of flikr 
  • Flickr forum 
  • Flickr is not for commercial use. Flickr is intended for personal use and if you are found to be promoting or attempting to market yourself through Flickr, your account may be disabled.

Queensland Flickr user

The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) created a Flickr photostream containing historical photos. SLQ are followed by approximately 600 accounts and 36 of their photos have been 'favourited' by Flickr users.

flickr State Library of Queensland photostream

Screenshot - Flickr State Library of Queensland photostream

Getting started

  1. Develop a plan as part of your communication strategy before starting setting up a YouTube account.
  2. Plan what your message is and what videos should be shared.
  3. Decide if you are going to respond to comments, once you answer one you will be expected to continue. Review the moderation of comments section of this Guideline for assistance.
  4. Write guidelines on what content should be promoted and how the account should be monitored.

Follow three simple rules to maintain a good flickr account:

  • think before you post – is the photo ok for the world to view
  • keep photos relevant
  • always have a signed consent form for people in the photo.

Real life Flickr mistakes

Flickr Best Practices

(Summarised from Flickr community guidelines)

What to do

Do play nice. We're a community of many types of people, who all have the right to feel comfortable and who may not think what you think, believe what you believe or see what you see. So, be polite and respectful in your interactions with other members.

Do upload content that you have created. Respect the copyright of others. This means don't steal photos or videos that other people have shared and pass them off as your own. (That's what favorites are for.)

Do moderate your content. You need to take responsibility for ensuring that what you upload is appropriately flagged. If your judgment proves to be poor, we'll moderate your account to match appropriate ratings for safe search and/or content type and send you a warning.

Photo content should be flagged as 'safe', 'moderate' or 'restricted.' Video on Flickr may only include 'safe' or 'moderate' content -- 'restricted' video content is not allowed on Flickr and will be removed. Please note that although you may upload 'safe', 'moderate' or 'restricted' content, some countries may only allow you to view 'safe' or 'safe' and 'moderate' content. There's more about this in our FAQs.

Do link back to Flickr when you post your Flickr content elsewhere. The Flickr service makes it possible to post content hosted on Flickr to outside websites. However, pages on other websites that display content hosted on flickr.com should provide a link from each photo or video back to its page on Flickr.

Do enjoy Flickr! See the world through others' eyes, participate, find your muse, and expand your horizons!

What not to do

Here's the deal: In most circumstances, we like to give second chances, so we'll send you a warning if you step across any of the lines listed below. Subsequent violations can result in account termination without warning.

Don't upload anything that isn't yours. This includes other people's photos, video and/or stuff you've collected from around the Internet. Accounts that consist primarily of such collections may be terminated at any time.

Don't forget the children. Take the opportunity to filter your content responsibly. If you would hesitate to show your photos or videos to a child, your mum, or Uncle Bob, that means it needs to be filtered. So, ask yourself that question as you upload your content and moderate accordingly. If you don't, it's likely that one of two things will happen. Your account will be reviewed then either moderated or terminated by Flickr staff.

Don't show nudity in your buddy icon. Only content considered 'safe' is appropriate for your buddy icon. If we find that you've uploaded a buddy icon that contains 'moderate' or 'restricted' content, we'll remove the buddy icon, moderate your account as 'restricted' and send you a warning. If we find you doing it again, we'll terminate your account.

Don't upload content that is illegal or prohibited. If we find you doing that, your account will be deleted and we'll take appropriate action, which may include reporting you to the authorities.

Don't vent your frustrations, rant, or bore the brains out of other members. Flickr is not a venue for you to harass, abuse, impersonate, or intimidate others. If we receive a valid complaint about your conduct, we'll send you a warning or terminate your account.

Don't use your account to host web graphics like logos and banners. Your account will be terminated if we find you using it to host graphic elements of web page designs, icons, smilies, buddy icons, forum avatars, badges, and other non-photographic elements on external websites.

Don't use Flickr for commercial purposes. Flickr is for personal use only. If we find you selling products, services, or yourself through your photostream, we will terminate your account. Any other commercial use of Flickr, Flickr technologies (including APIs, FlickrMail, etc), or Flickr accounts should be approved by Flickr.

Last reviewed
19 July 2011
Last updated
22 August 2011