Youth Media Exchange (ymex.org) accepts digital media work of all kinds as long as they are related to global issues and/or how digital media affects your life. The vision of ymex.org is to create a space where members can critically discuss a variety of world views on select issues as well as communicate your own perspectives through your digital media skills. Ymex.org is a space where you can sharpen your digital literacy skills, get valuable feedback to your work, and collaborate with members in other parts of the world.

Due to the participatory spirit of the site, you are responsible for linking to or embedding your own work based on the ymex.org guidelines. Ymex.org does not host media (with the exception of images), it must be linked to or embedded from other websites which do host media. The list of websites we think are best for this purpose are listed in our Resources section. To keep the exchange positive and focused, we will be monitoring the site for inappropriate material (*listed below).

We encourage everyone to use Creative Commons when sharing your work. Click here to learn more about it : http://creativecommons.org/ and here to learn more about the variations in Creative Commons licenses http://creativecommons.org/license/. As for work that is created by others and taken from other sources or websites (such as YouTube or SlideShare), it is extremely important that you credit the source of that work. Think of it as if others are using your media creations – you would like to get credit for it. So we are asking you to do that for others. All submissions must have:
1.Who created the work?
2. Where you found it?
3. How do you know you can share it (Creative Commons, permission from creator)?

We also hope you will collaborate as much as possible with other youth from your community and from other countries. A few brains at work can be better than one – as well as provide a truly global perspective on an issue! In the spirit of ymex.org, please mention of all the participants involved in every process.

*Submissions must fit the mission and vision of ymex.org, which are:

1. Promoting cross-cultural expression and dialogue through digital media.

2. Raising awareness of major global and social challenges.

3. Showcasing the personal interpretation and talent of young people through an open and shared space that creates opportunities for digital media creators of all kinds.

*Submissions may be removed from the website if they are:

1. Excessively vulgar or offensive

2. Discriminatory towards race, sexuality, religion, etc

3. Promoting or advertising products or organizations unrelated to ymex.org content.

4. Not given adequate context as to how they relate to the purpose of the site (i.e. vacation photos, or photos of families or friends, although nice, do not fit with the ymex.org goal or mission)

5. A duplicate or copy of another's work without a proper credit

6. work that uses intellectual property owned by another (e.g. a song without the artist's permission)

7. Inappropriate sexual content

Please give a red flag to any content which you find inappropriate according to these guidelines. Please contact us if a red flag is not sufficient.

If you have concerns or questions about what is appropriate or how to source your material, beyond what is mentioned here, please email us at ymex@takingitglobal.org.

And thank you for your contributions!

Points System

Ymex.org is based on a points system that allows you to rate other’s work and be rated, to have access to more participation on the site (such as quests and mentoring), and will allow you to be rewarded for your hard work and quality productions and discussions. Most things you do on the site will be rewarded with points, including but not limited to:

- Embedding or linking to media content that shares information on ymex.org's selected topics

- Creating new digital media around the topics

- Rating or giving feedback on other media submissions

- Submitting resources that will help others learn more about making & sharing new media as well as learn more about global issues

Sharing your Photos with Flickr

1) Create your flickr accoun t at http://www.flickr.com/. Once this is created, just sign in.
2) Upload the photos you want to share at http://www.flickr.com/photos/upload/
4) Click "Describe your photos" to give the title, description, and tags that your friends or the public will read when they see your photo
5) Click "Save this Batch"
6) To get the location directly to the image use the following methods, depending on the web browser you are using:

Firefox: 1. Right click on the image, select Properties from the context menu. The Element Properties window will open showing you the location to the image and its dimensions. The location is what you need here: simply copy & paste.

2. Right click the image, select Copy Image Location from the context menu. This will copy the full path to the computer's clipboard which can be pasted to any location. Note: the address gathered from this step will be exactly the same as in the previous step.

Internet Explorer: Right click the image, select Properties from the context menu. The Properties window will open, showing the dimensions, size, date, and address of the image. The address field is what will need to be copied.

Safari: Right click the image, select Copy Image Address from the context menu. This will copy the full path to the computer's clipboard which can be pasted to any location. 

8) Copy the link to the Flickr page which hosts that photo
9) Under "Submit" and then "Images" on ymex, choose the "I made this" option
10) Choose the "URL" field if you want to link to the photo

Note: use the same steps for sharing others photos that you find on Flickr, just don't forget to give them proper credit.

*Another option for sharing your original photos or digital images on ymex.org is to Upload the photo directly from your computer.