I’ve lost my word verification amusement (so many have thoughtfully turned the darn thing off). So, I’ve had to move onto new pastures to get my ‘what tha what?’ kicks.
My new pasture is where weheartit grazes.
Anyone who reads the comments I often leave by my picture credits (that would be all none of you, but that’s okay) will know that I have a love / hate relationship with weheartit. I love that I can quickly find some beautiful images there; I hate that there is virtually no crediting of any of those beautiful images whatsoever. I love that I can bookmark my faves; I hate that I can’t search through my faves. I love that it’s like a trip down teenage lane as I wade through all the images of gorgeous girls doing fun things that ordinary girls sitting on their beds at home have bookmarked; I hate that I also have to wade through 27,000 Bieber images, especially ones that have added statements like ‘Always remember where you came from and always remember to remain humble* – Justin Bieber, 2011’. (And, for an even funnier Bieber moment, do check out ‘Enhanced Bieber‘.)
But what amuses me about weheartit is that they appear to have the worst Search-Matching in the entire webisphere. ‘Search-Matching’ is my own technical term, I don’t know what it’s actually called. It’s where a program uses complicated logirhythms to decide what you might like based on preferences you’ve shown before. It’s why iTunes Genius seems to think my sister would be into Jason Donovan.
So, the weheartit Search-Match clearly needs even more complicated logirhythms. When viewing sweet little images that I found by searching for ‘Thank you’, weheartit thoughtfully added a ‘Similar Images’ box. It listed an image of a lion devouring a wildebeest, an image of a woman checking out her non-existent butt in a mirror and an image of a note that said ‘So Cry Me A Fucking River, Bitch’.
What tha what?
So, weheartit, I’m climbing more and more out of love with you every day. Seriously, dude, you’ve got to try harder if you want to keep me coming back for more. I’m complicated like that.
Jane says
Ah, Bron. You make me laugh. I’ve fallen out of love with both We ♥ it and vi.sualize.us and moved all my photos to Pinterest. I find it so much easier and satisfying to use. Sorting them onto my pinboards makes me feel so much more organised and it’s so much easier to find things. J x
Cate says
I’m not sure I get it?? How do weheartit get the images? Don’t people upload their own images…in which case, why do they do it?? Maybe you need to unionise the weheartit community – what do we want: some kind of proper recognition for our artistic endevours and a decent search engine. When do we want it: as soon as possible
(or something like that…you’re better with words than me :-))
Good luck with your mission!
xxxCate
Mrs BC says
Gosh, sounds like you typed ‘Thank you’ in Sarcastica font – maybe the search engine at weheartit is actually so powerful & subtle …no?
Starting a Pinterest account is on my to-do list.
x
Loz says
Amen! We heart it has been doing my nut in…gah! I too..do not have beiber fever and didn’t really feel the <3 having to sift through exactly 39 billion pages of his fever-ness to just get a picture of something pretty. Mmph.
Diminishing Lucy says
The other thing that shits me about we♥it is the NOISY ads. I often go image hunting at NIGHT when I need to be QUIET. The unexpected noisly ads SHITS me.
And the serch thingo? Can you search for two things> Comma to separate two search terms? NO. Why not? Annoying…Or am I thick? Is there a way?
Life In A Pink Fibro says
You tell em Maxabella – I’m still trying to get iTunes to take back the Jason Donovan recommendation.
Tai Tai says
I agree – so hit and miss. And far too many hot young things parading about in next to nothing when you search for “learning”. Not sure where the link is there….
Jane@flightplatformliving says
never even heard of sights like this! if i now find myself glued to a new thing on the web i will hold you responsible! lolx
Aakriti Malik says
haha:D this is sooooo funny:P…:D..I checked the site out..but maybe will do so when I have all the timne in the world. As of now ur post made me smile and escape my tensed mood, coz I have a philosophy exam coming day after tomorrow:|
I love analyzing pictures rather..going into the depths of the pics.in fact recently I wrote a mid- term paper on “Ways of Seeing”..If you would like to read a book which talks about how one sees Art..its the same title by John Berger π Tc. Aakriti:)
Anna Walker says
I Love WeHeartIt, but I do agree, the other day I was searching in quotes, and found a lot of odd things, but not a lot of quotes!! Plus they’re added so rapidly that you end end up looking at the same page all the time!
You should join Pinterest and just pin the weheartit’s that you like onto your boards there! It’s MUCH more organized! π
http://annawalker1992.blogspot.com/
Metropolitan Mum says
Groooooosssss, eeeek. You are responsible for me throwing up my dinner. Enhanced Bieber? Urgh, that’s just so wrong!!!!
Ok, it was a bit funny.
ForeverRhonda says
I use photobucket or just google images mostly. They are pretty spot on with the search-match.
Felicity says
The next challenge is when you have a teenager in the house who insists that you can search We Heart It without seeing pornographic images if you turn on a special filter – yeah right!
Needless to say it’s a dirty word in our house at the moment.
xx F
InkPaperPen says
fabulous! yes, I have been aware of your we heart it frustration – i do read your little photo credits – usually give me a giggle!
I have been considering using my little brother’s photos instead of weheartit and others – then I don’t have to waste time looking for credits – however he is less likely to have photos of pretty bunting and more likely to have that wilder beast pic you mentioned
Gill xo
Seana Smith says
Whaaaat? Right then, I am off to see what weheartit is… jeez, I am such a blogging novice…
I think I will just commission myself to take my own photos, less cute but sounds simpler!
Absolute Novice says
This made me laugh! I was OBSESSED with we heart it, but I hated not being able to find original image sources (I always ended up at weird tumblrs) Now I am proud to say I’m hooked on Pinterest, that is until the next best thing sneaks up on us in the middle of the night!
Paula says
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cath @ chunkychooky says
As much as I love weheart it and other similar sites it is annoying that the actual taker of the photo looses any recognition and this is very annoying if it is say something that you sell that finds its self on to pininterst and people use the image without linking it to you…as an example.
Paula says
Maxabella, you have a serious knack for nailing it (a great topic, that is). You always write about stuff that draws a resounding, “Yes, me toooo!” response from your readers. Which I really like x
sarah{thegreendandelion} says
i have the same complaint about we heart it and tumbler!!! NO CREDIT OF PHOTOS!!!!! i hate it! i don’t use pictures unless i can find proper credit for the pics and have often wasted so much time searching and searching through tumbler pages trying to find the credit for a pic i saw on we heart it… i have started using pinterest instead to catalog my favorite pictures… you might want to try that…http://pinterest.com/greendandelion/
Jodie at Mummy Mayhem says
I love the images on it, but searching is not always easy. I started clicking on the links for where the image came from but soon found it rarely linked tO the actual pic, so I just link back to pic on We Heart It now. Not ideal. But I still do love a lot of the images there. *sigh*
Anna Bartlett says
I’m a Pintrester. I like it because it helps ME remember where I found stuff. But your weheartit photos are all so lovely…
Anna Bartlett says
I’m a Pintrester. I like it because it helps ME remember where I found stuff. But your weheartit photos are all so lovely…
Lou says
I didn’t just giggle I burst out laughing when I read about iTunes suggesting Jason Donovan – I didn’t even know that you could do that with iTunes, but guess what, I’m doing it right now as I type and hopefully it will have come up wih a suggestion or 2 for me by the time I have finished.
As for photo’s I am a bit of a flickr stalker. I have a few friends on there who photos I look at and then go onwards to their friends and then their friends and so on and so on…
Hmmm iTunes decided that I might like pretty much everything I already have…very disappointing!
Lou
fairchildstreet says
Doesn’t sound good. But I always love the images you choose for your blog. Charmaine
MultipleMum says
I missed this post! How is it so? I must say I am so lazy at crediting images that I use the weheartit credit even though I know it is crappy. Must do better! Completely agree about the searchability factor – shocking – and the suggested other pics. I always get a laugh though so I go back for more π
PS I thought you were going to rig the giveaway so I would win!? You and your darn morals x