Flickr. Am I the only one who likes it?

[Bill Clark]

Sorry, I don't use flickr.

I do have an account set up with Picasa but nothing on it anymore. I would use the slide show feature and link it to my business web site.

Enjoyment for me is to see other people happy when they see the photographs I make of them. Last time we traveled to see our daughter and her family they had a photo I made and framed, displayed on the wall in the youngest daughters bedroom.

Now that makes me happy with lots of smiles.

 

[Exdsc]

The default reaction on the internet is overreaction.

 

[bwcolor]

I just realized that I can now upload all my original Tiff files and not just the JPEG. With unlimited storage, this is really nice.

 

[craygc]

Just voted with my feet... Spent a few days seeing if it would grow on me; nah, not workin' :bang:

 

[mani]

My prediction: when the dust settles and the necessary fine-tweaks have been made to the new design, a lot of people who stormed off in a huff are going to be clamoring to be given back their torn-up Pro accounts.

Anyway, for those that prefer their images to be seen small, crowded by text, and served from very slow servers, ipernity will be the perfect choice.

 

[jtm6]

There was no acknowledgement by the staff of any of the faults in design.
...
The new layouts were launched immediately after "testing" ended, which probably explains why they were so buggy the first few days. So I think to say it was rushed out the door was fair.

Sounds like this wasn't beta testing but more like "research"... and by "research" I don't mean the real kind of research that should be performed before design and implementation, but rather the kind that is performed after everything is done so that the uninformed design is justified. And if (when) that backfires, silence the critics. Next thing you know, there is a PowerPoint meeting where someone is presenting all ("only the responses that don't make me look bad") the feedback.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I've lived with the new design or a few days now and my judgment remains the same: as long as the Flickr Corporate bosses don't give, at least the current 'pro' users the choice to revert to a 'Flickr Classic' option -including the 'Classic' lay-out of the site, very many of their customers will go elsewhere. All this said, the damage has been done with a very large group of content providers feeling as if they are ruled by unreliable and uncaring managers.

 

[jtm6]

oh well it's a good day for adblock, huh?

Indeed. Every time I hear someone complain about ads, I think, "What ads? Oh yeah. I remember those." I also block unwanted and unnecessary connections with Little Snitch, however it is turning into a part time job.

 

[jtm6]

As for the quoted 'beta testers' - it seems to me that flickr was naive in choosing people at random for that test. "You're making a 60-year old woman cry" is not really useful feedback, nor is "IT SUX I HATE IT CHANGE IT BAK!!!" Constructive comments would have been far more valuable to everyone.

Real user testing requires the administers to know how to process real user feedback. It isn't a critique. Sometimes those being tested do not know how to articulate their thoughts — that doesn't mean "This sucks!" and "I hate it" are not valid. Those comments are red flags that can and should be probed further. Of course if someone is being difficult, that's another story.

 

[btgc]

Talking of ipernity, one of the things I read some photographers were most annoyed about was the 'Ken Burns' panning effects on the new flickr slideshow. What do I see when I look at ipernity's 'Explore' page - yeah, Ken Burns panning! So to all the people migrating from flickr: good luck on ipernity!

This, yes. And I have had ipernity account for years but never migrated to it. When all this flickr thing happened and people packed to fly, I asked myself how months later ipernity will change layout to same as flickr. Of course I would be glad to see they won't, but I still think they just may jump from rock because anyone does.

 

[btgc]

Indeed. Every time I hear someone complain about ads, I think, "What ads? Oh yeah. I remember those." I also block unwanted and unnecessary connections with Little Snitch, however it is turning into a part time job.

I think they aren't that stupid. With some knowledge it's possible to break current adblock scheme. Adblock in FF isn't blocking everything so why Yahoo couldn't make ads immune to current adblock.

 

[bwcolor]

It is curious that after so many year, Flickr presentation is a top down design. You would think that the UI would have migrated, at a minimum, to a user definable layout for their home page.

 

[back alley]

i wonder where they will put the advertising?

 

[gb hill]

I'm only seeing advertising on the top right of my screen. I also saw an ad to the right of my screen as I was uploading a photo. I really don't find the ad's bothersome.

 

[gb hill]

My prediction: when the dust settles and the necessary fine-tweaks have been made to the new design, a lot of people who stormed off in a huff are going to be clamoring to be given back their torn-up Pro accounts.

Anyway, for those that prefer their images to be seen small, crowded by text, and served from very slow servers, ipernity will be the perfect choice.

I know that I won't. I was considering dropping my Pro account anyhow. They just sealed the dead for me. I also haven't had any issues setting up my layout on ipernity nor navigating the site. I don't see the small images as you suggest. I'm viewing a much cleaner layout and a more professional look of one's photos. Flickr OTOH, I can't even change my header so I'm stuck with seeing those stupid baloons. I'm not going to leave flickr, I just don't see any benefit in giving them my monie.

 

[sevres_babylone]

...

People seem to be overreacting a little bit, it seems to me.

The new site is vastly more 'image-rich' than the old design.
With all the lyrical nostalgia I've been reading on various fora around the net the last couple days, anyone might think the 'old' flickr was some sort of design classic - but ...

I agree with most of what you're saying. I was never a fan of white backgrounds, though that was what made the old design distinctive. I'll be sticking around, though I will miss those of my contacts who are moving on.
I use pbase in addition to flickr, and adding to ipernity to my mix would be a bit too much for me now.

 

[jody36]

I like it better

 

[pdh]

... very many of their customers will go elsewhere ...

... Much as I dislike the new design and the lack of choice in how my pictures are presented and how I am able to view others',(so much so that I may move most of my new uploads to Ipernity) ...

... I really really doubt enough people will leave Flickr to make a difference. The feedback thread at Flickr may be nearly 30,000 strong with most of the responses being thumpingly negative, but even if every post was from a different unique user, this constitutes a tiny percentage of their user base.

Most people use Flickr to dumpload their P&S/mobile-phone snaps and not as some sort of art gallery. That's why one hears so many complaints here and elsewhere that all modern photography is dross (the cry is often "all that rubbish you see on Flickr!")

I think it's a terrible shame and a waste, and all they had to have done to keep me and a few thousand others happy was to provide a choice about the interface style.

But with tens of millions of other users who don't really care what it looks like, why would they bother?

 

[hteasley]

But with tens of millions of other users who don't really care what it looks like, why would they bother?

This sort of critique is often seen in web forum discussions such as this, and is, to my eyes, nothing more than social posturing. The message is, "Anyone who disagrees with me is clearly someone who just doesn't care; I am a person of taste and distinction, better than the lumpenproletariat that just go along with anything."

It disallows the possibility that disagreement could be the result of thoughtful opinion and differing (but no less serious) aesthetic.

I really like how prominent my contacts photos are when I visit the home page. It is far better, to my eyes, seeing a lot of very large photos by interesting photographers immediately.

 

[Bingley]

My experience too ...

Mine as well. I migrated over to ipernity very reluctantly, b/c of the contacts and groups on flickr that I enjoy, but it's exciting to use the move as an opportunity to start afresh. And the site has some interesting features the flickr never had.