The popular photo-sharing site owned by Yahoo Inc. is partnering up with Getty Images, one of the largest sellers of online pictures and stock photos. This is under Yahoo’s goal of giving a chance to Flickr users to actually earn money from their otherwise plain hobbies.

Under the agreement, editors from Getty Images will scout Flickr to find pictures that may appeal to photo buyers like magazines, newspapers, advertising agencies, book publishers and other businesses.

After which, a representative from Getty will contact Flickr photographers who posted their shots with sales potential. If the photographer is interested, then they will have a deal that divides the sales between Getty and the participating photographer.

The agreement perfectly demonstrates how the internet creates different money making industries and opportunities for its users. In this particular case, the industry created falls under the media category. This trend is actually called “citizen journalism”.

Flickr currently hosts more than 2 billion pictures from amateur photographers. The site currently has 27 million members.

Source: Yahoo News