Hyperlinked Objects In Social Media Destinations

A simple but important new feature is being launched on a couple of social media sites.

Photobucket has launched a new sort of photo tagging that gives contributers the ability to share linked photos across email and online social networks. It allows you to tag up to 20 names and links within a single photo before sharing them so that those viewing the images have easy access to a range of contextual information.

When someone else views the tagged photo on Photobucket, or another Flash-enabled site, they can hover over elements of the photo to see the link and the tag, or simply click on a person or item in the photo and jump to the associated link. For example, a photo of a school or college group can link each person to individual social network profiles. Alternatively, a photo of landscapes or travel scenes could link to relevant travelogues, giving viewers added insight into the photo’s subject matter.

A Photobucket tagging demo is available here.

In related news, similar functionality that enables the addition of hyper links to objects in video clips is soon to be launched by Asterpix. This clever application allows embedded tags to accompany any object or scene featured in the video. For example, a video clip showing a series of new products can contain links to additional information or purchasing info on that particular item that appears when the viewer runs the mouse over it. The Asterpix site is currently in Beta and is expected to fully launch in mid-December.