Yesterday I wrote about the need to focus on shareable ideas rather than the tools of social media. Shareable ideas aren't about numbers, they are about thinking, sentiment and emotion. Instagram and turntable.fm are great examples of platforms that tap into people's emotional being, and are major contributors to their success. DearPhotograph is another site that really hits you with an emotional impact.

The site, built on the Tumblr platform, is incredibly simple in design - another factor in its success. To participate, users need only "take a picture of a picture from the past in the present." In words that may be a little hard to picture, so take a look at a recent example:

The simple genius of DearPhotograph

Visually brilliant. Each entry is accompanied by a caption that, as if the image wasn't poignant enough, fills in the details of the story. The picture above, submitted by Leah Romm, reads, "Je t'aime Paris, but I love my mother more. After 15 years she finally brought me along!"

Every entry seems to be receiving hundreds (if not thousands) of reposts across Tumblr, and while it feels almost disrespectful to sully this beautiful idea by placing it in a marketing context, the implications are obvious. Fashion, cans, soft drinks, plenty of brands could take this idea and drive real emotional connections. Let's see which brand is smart enough to jump on this.