What use is Flickr?

spraynpray

They are pushing like crazy for people to go pro right now, but it doesn't seem like good vfm to me and with all this uncertainty over the future of Flickr, I think I'll pass.

I'd like to know from you guys, is there a better free service out there?

FreezeAction

Nothing Free that I know of. There is a site that may be free that one of my BBQ forums has started using. Normally in this old world there are no free lunches. In the deep dark recesses of my gray matter there is a app that can be installed to you have your own server for uploading photos from a few years back. It's still not a totally free option. If it is free online there will always be a danger of losing data when a service collapses.

PB_PM

Nothing good free left, everything "Free" now is just for data mining, or you give away your rights to the image.

NSXTypeR

spraynpray said:

They are pushing like crazy for people to go pro right now, but it doesn't seem like good vfm to me and with all this uncertainty over the future of Flickr, I think I'll pass.



I'd like to know from you guys, is there a better free service out there?

I'm trying to go to another service if possible to post photos just to participate in this forum. I blew way past the free part of Flickr, so I probably haven't uploaded since January of 2019.

I'm all ears for suggestions.

As much as I'd like Flickr to succeed, seems like there's too much momentum for them to not to succeed honestly.

mhedges

I think one of the challenges is that Flickr is trying to sell itself as a community/social network as opposed to just an image hosting site. And really I think they have to, given that's the major thing they have over the much cheaper hosting only options like Amazon or Google photos. But is that enough to make folks want to pay $50 a year? I doubt it.

dissent

I signed up with a Pro account last year. It's not all that much, and is simple and convenient to use. I'm happy with it for now.

FreezeAction

I've dumped my pro status with Flickr and am in the process of deleting photos down to the non pro level. I've got a SmugMug account that I setup as a selling website that gives me the option of traveling and not needing to run prints and mail. I wasn't worried so much about the price of the pro membership in Flickr but more about depending on them being there with an off site backup system. More than once such sites disappear overnight taking everything with them. Between SmugMug and a home based cloud and multiple computers I'll be content. For Nikon Rumors postings I'll keep the basic Flickr account and when it's gone that bridge can be crossed then.

mhedges

dissent said:

I signed up with a Pro account last year. It's not all that much, and is simple and convenient to use. I'm happy with it for now.

Yeah for all my complaints I am too. I was happier with my first year's discounted subscription - $30 seems to be about right for my use. $50 is a little high but whatever.

FreezeAction said:

I've dumped my pro status with Flickr and am in the process of deleting photos down to the non pro level. I've got a SmugMug account that I setup as a selling website that gives me the option of traveling and not needing to run prints and mail. I wasn't worried so much about the price of the pro membership in Flickr but more about depending on them being there with an off site backup system. More than once such sites disappear overnight taking everything with them. Between SmugMug and a home based cloud and multiple computers I'll be content. For Nikon Rumors postings I'll keep the basic Flickr account and when it's gone that bridge can be crossed then.

I think it's very unlikely that Flickr just disappears overnight. When was the last time something like that happened to a site that size? Hell, Photobucket is still hanging on (and constantly pestering me to pay) last I checked, and nobody uses them anymore.

If they do disappear I wouldn't count on your stuff on SmugMug being safe.

FreezeAction

SmugMug is the parent company from what I understand or maybe a sister company? Anyway their business model seems to be much more fitting for my needs. Somewhere in the pie Go Daddy has control I think. At my age if it all disappears it may not make a lot of difference now. I can haul my 17" Epson with me and do test prints during travels and perhaps sell off a few for Mad Money...

NSXTypeR

dissent said:

I signed up with a Pro account last year. It's not all that much, and is simple and convenient to use. I'm happy with it for now.

Money really isn't the issue, it's what they do with the info that I'm concerned about. I

mhedges said:

dissent said:

I signed up with a Pro account last year. It's not all that much, and is simple and convenient to use. I'm happy with it for now.

Yeah for all my complaints I am too. I was happier with my first year's discounted subscription - $30 seems to be about right for my use. $50 is a little high but whatever.


I think it's very unlikely that Flickr just disappears overnight. When was the last time something like that happened to a site that size? Hell, Photobucket is still hanging on (and constantly pestering me to pay) last I checked, and nobody uses them anymore.

If they do disappear I wouldn't count on your stuff on SmugMug being safe.

Vine and MySpace disappeared quite quickly. Sites come and go all the time.

In theory, I could just open a new account and use it just to participate in the forums.

Ton14

To be independent is the reason why I have my Synology NAS 218+ and also the still working good my 7 years old Synology NAS DS212J. These systems became easier to use and better. I also use is SyncBackPro for a long time now, a fast 4tb Seagate USB is € 100.-.

Flickr is the space where I put a photo to post on this forum, a subscription with no personal or bank data. If you need a portfolio to show it is not easy to find a 100% save internet solution at the moment.

500px was hacked, Adobe exposed all account data (including mine) a couple of years ago and again last year. I get mails weekly, where hackers want me to pay, fortunate with very old data, the reason why I don't take any subscription anymore.

I followed the news about database hacks the last 3 month and everything is exposed, there are 2 databases going around at the moment, one 2.4TB and one 4tb with account information from all over the world.

Change your passwords frequently and use Keepass or so and internet via VPN, this is the least we can do at the moment.

mhedges

NSXTypeR said:

Vine and MySpace disappeared quite quickly. Sites come and go all the time.

In theory, I could just open a new account and use it just to participate in the forums.

Myspace is still around. It's just it's popularity that disappeared quickly!

And you can still watch all of the old Vine videos AFAIK.

I wish Flickr actively supported multiple accounts under one login, like Twitter does. Then I could have one account for all the soccer pics I share with the rest of my kids team, and another account for the other photo stuff I do.

mhedges

Got an email that they are raising prices for the subscription. Going from 50 to 60. Not a smart move IMO. Even 50 is a little high for what I do (basically just hosting). I could care less about the analytics etc. that they also try to sell you on.

dissent

I wish Flickr actively supported multiple accounts under one login, like Twitter does. Then I could have one account for all the soccer pics I share with the rest of my kids team, and another account for the other photo stuff I do.

I do this effectively using albums and privacy settings, which can be cumbersome - separate accounts might be cleaner.

mhedges

mhedges said:

I wish Flickr actively supported multiple accounts under one login, like Twitter does. Then I could have one account for all the soccer pics I share with the rest of my kids team, and another account for the other photo stuff I do.

dissent said:

I do this effectively using albums and privacy settings, which can be cumbersome - separate accounts might be cleaner.

I'm not really worried about privacy/access. For me its more keeping the feeds clean for the people who follow me. Which granted isn't many but still. Like, if you follow me cause you like my urban exploration pics you probably don't want your feed spammed with 60-100 soccer pics every weekend.