Flickr bought by SmugMug

https://petapixel.com/2018/04/21/thoughts-on-the-smugmug-flickr-acquisition/

I know some people here seem to have an allergic reaction to Petapixel, but this article/viewpoint on the principals involved in the merger, and some of the background, might be encouraging. At least there is a bit more to it than idle pure conjecture. But, yes, we won’t know exactly how it turns out until it turns out, the future being unknowable, as the future always is.
 
peterm1 said:
As to the suggestion that the email I received may be spam....the email address certainly looks like a genuine Flickr address, it is the first thing I checked. Of course having said that, email addresses can be spoofed.

I would not have got a Smug Mug email (as Raid did) as I do not use Smug Mug, only Flickr. The wording of my Flickr email (as quoted in my other message) certainly does not sound as if they intend to keep the sites separate under Smug Mug ownership. Though of course corporates often write clumsy emails that convey things they did not intend so I live in hope that the email I received is merely clumsy and inept. Of course I saw the video that Raid received - it is on Smug Mug's site and I viewed it after seeing reports of the take over when I checked Smug Mug to find out more about what they say. But it is nothing more than some marketing blah blah. Totally information free.

But I still say that based on the email message I saw it sounds to me as if the two sites are not planned to be maintained separately - if I were writing such an email the simplest thing in the world (and the most logical to assuage user fears) would be to write something like "Flickr has been bought by Smug Mug. For the foreseeable future it is their intention to continue to run Flickr as a stand alone site with all existing features and will honor membership of Flickr Pro paying users, but we plan to bring some exciting new features blah blah blah ...." Or some such. This is definitely not what they said. Which suggests to me it is not what they intend.

I should acknowledge their email also said "Nothing will change immediately with regard to your Flickr account." But to me "immediately" means in the near term - i.e. in the next few weeks or months and certainly gives no representations about what will occur in the longer term. In fact one might also read it as hinting that there certainly are longer term changes planned. A lot of traffic to my Flickr photos comes from within Flickr Groups etc and from people just casually browsing Flickr - this seems not to be possible with Smug Mug as when I have tried it forces me to "join" first - something many would not be bothered with as a casual user wanting to view images. It is that kind of unique functionality makes Flickr worthwhile. If it merely becomes another Smug Mug hosted photo site, devoid of features that help people find photos in the way Flickr does )and if it in fact puts in place membership hurdles which discourage this) then the value proposition for me has been lost and there is nothing to distinguish Smug Mug, say from having my own web site hosted somewhere else.
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It may be then you got that e-mail because you host your web site photos on Flickr, and SmugMug has that as part of their business model. So it would behoove them to move as much of that traffic over to their system as possible, so they can start to get a return on their investment earlier.

I don't have a web site, nor do I have any monetary gain through my photography, so they could probably care less about me. For now.

PF
 
Larry Cloetta said:
https://petapixel.com/2018/04/21/thoughts-on-the-smugmug-flickr-acquisition/

I know some people here seem to have an allergic reaction to Petapixel, but this article/viewpoint on the principals involved in the merger, and some of the background, might be encouraging. At least there is a bit more to it than idle pure conjecture. But, yes, we won’t know exactly how it turns out until it turns out, the future being unknowable, as the future always is.
Click to expand...

I've been through so many changes at Flickr, my blood pressure didn't even go up when I found out about the SmugMug buy. But I keep a watch for when the switch happens from a benevolent caretaker to a demanding landlord.

PF
 
I like this bit from the USA Today article

“It sounds silly for the CEO not to totally know what he’s going to do, but we haven’t built SmugMug on a master plan either. We try to listen to our customers and when enough of them ask for something that’s important to them or to the community, we go and build it,” he said.
Click to expand...

This is not just another brainless asset sell. The guy has some kind of passion for photography/photo websites, or at least gives a damn. Whether he's a good businessman I don't know, but at the moment I can only see this as positive.

I'm a FlickR Pro subscriber paid up until Feb 2020.
 
c.poulton said:
This give a lot more detail about Smug Mugs plans for the future (near). I’m not too worried so far.

https://www.smugmug.com/together/faq
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It looks as if my worst fears were just that - worst fears. According to the FAQ they do plan to continue Flickr as a stand alone site. If only they had bothered to say as much in their emails to existing Flickr users.
 
What's wrong with the app, “Google Photos?”
And it’s free.

How about Snapseed by Google? In the app store.

Going to the app store I quit counting at 40 the different apps available from Google.
 
peterm1 said:
It looks as if my worst fears were just that - worst fears. According to the FAQ they do plan to continue Flickr as a stand alone site. If only they had bothered to say as much in their emails to existing Flickr users.
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Maybe that's why I haven't gotten the e-mail yet. They are re-writing it to make things clearer. Or they only send out so many per day so not everyone tries to jump on board (or off) at once, clogging up the servers.

PF
 
I got the email today. It's pretty much as peterm1 said, but I think he might have misinterpreted it. All Flickr data will be moved to Smugmug's facilities, but the Flickr site will persist as a standalone entity. It's saying that if you do not agree to have your photos moved onto their servers and your account brought under their control, you need to download them and delete your account before May 25. Here's the full text.

"SmugMug has a long history of empowering people who love photography and who want to improve their craft, making them a perfect fit for Flickr and our creative community. With SmugMug, we’ll continue to focus on you, the Flickr members who inspire us all with your work.

Nothing will change immediately with regard to your Flickr account. You will still access Flickr with your current login credentials and you will have the same Flickr experience as you do now. We will continue to work to make your Flickr experience even better.

We think you are going to love Flickr under SmugMug ownership, but you can choose to not have your Flickr account and data transferred to SmugMug until May 25, 2018. If you want to keep your Flickr account and data from being transferred, you must go to your Flickr account to download the photos and videos you want to keep, then delete your account from your Account Settings by May 25, 2018.

If you do not delete your account by May 25, 2018, your Flickr account and data will transfer to SmugMug and will be governed by SmugMug’s Terms and Privacy Policy.

Read more detailed FAQs about this transition on the Flickr Blog.

We’re happy that Flickr is your home for photography and we look forward to the next chapter in our adventure together as we join the SmugMug family."

Perhaps not worded as clearly as it could have been.
 
I finally got the email, dated 2:23am this morning. Here is the text:

We’re excited to announce that Flickr has agreed to be
acquired by SmugMug, the photography platform dedicated to
visual storytellers.

SmugMug has a long history of empowering people who love
photography and who want to improve their craft, making them
a perfect fit for Flickr and our creative community. With
SmugMug, we’ll continue to focus on you, the Flickr
members who inspire us all with your work.

Nothing will change immediately with regard to your Flickr
account. You will still access Flickr with your current
login credentials and you will have the same Flickr
experience as you do now. We will continue to work to make
your Flickr experience even better.

We think you are going to love Flickr under SmugMug
ownership, but you can choose to not have your Flickr
account and data transferred to SmugMug until May 25, 2018.
If you want to keep your Flickr account and data from being
transferred, you must go to your Flickr account to download
the photos and videos you want to keep, then delete your
account from your Account Settings by May 25, 2018.

If you do not delete your account by May 25, 2018, your
Flickr account and data will transfer to SmugMug and will be
governed by SmugMug’s Terms and Privacy Policy.

Read more detailed FAQs about this transition on the Flickr
Blog.
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I view this as a huge positive. Remember that Yahoo did virtually nothing to enhance the site, and Yahoo has been sold to Verizon.

I would rather a family-owned photo-centric company take charge than trust the phone company, whose only motive would be to milk more revenue out of the site.

I have been a Pro SmugMug member for years, and the service and support is top-notch.

Personally, I can't think of a better outcome for Flickr.

Rolfe
 
Bill Clark said:
What's wrong with the app, “Google Photos?”
And it’s free.

How about Snapseed by Google? In the app store.

Going to the app store I quit counting at 40 the different apps available from Google.
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Google mines and sells your data.
Google tracks where you have been.
Google is evil.

Don't use a Google service if you care about your privacy.
 
borge said:
Google mines and sells your data.
Google tracks where you have been.
Google is evil.

Don't use a Google service if you care about your privacy.
Click to expand...

I largely agree, although I think the difference is more about the user experiences derived from different revenue models. I really dislike being subjected to ads every two or three photos on Instagram, and the use of ad-based business models by Google, FB, and Instagram (owned by FB) creates an incentive to mine user data to attract more advertisers.

Flickr may have stagnated under Yahoo's ownership, but as a Flickr Pro account holder I like not having to see ads. And the community aspect on Flickr (e.g. Groups) is one reason I've stuck with the site. I prefer Flickr groups to Instagram hashtags as a way of seeing collections of photos with certain things in common (e.g., gear, subject matter).
 
Bingley said:
I largely agree, although I think the difference is more about the user experiences derived from different revenue models. I really dislike being subjected to ads every two or three photos on Instagram, and the use of ad-based business models by Google, FB, and Instagram (owned by FB) creates an incentive to mine user data to attract more advertisers.

Flickr may have stagnated under Yahoo's ownership, but as a Flickr Pro account holder I like not having to see ads. And the community aspect on Flickr (e.g. Groups) is one reason I've stuck with the site. I prefer Flickr groups to Instagram hashtags as a way of seeing collections of photos with certain things in common (e.g., gear, subject matter).
Click to expand...

Yes I agree with all of this. I too am a Flickr Pro user, in large measure so as to avoid being subjected relentlessly to ads. I had a bad experience with ads years ago when using Photo Bucket (which is now virtually defunct). It implemented a new regime of constant ads which were I should add, also implemented in a manner that made the site ugly to the eye. Why make nice photos that are despoiled by ugly adverts and poor site design. I would rather pay a reasonable fee - if I get something that meets my requirements.

Like you, I especially find Flickr Groups to be useful and beneficial. They are a fun and effective way of finding new photos and photographers. Accordingly I make a point of linking all of my newly posted content to one or more groups - often several in fact. For me this is much MUCH easier and more logical than trying to dream up metadata tags that I think others might use when searching for a photo like mine. Metadata is hit and miss unless the search mechanism uses clever fuzzy logic to hunt down photos. Hence, this use of Groups benefits those who are searching and it also benefits me since these Groups drive considerable eyeballs to my Flickr page and quite often those who find their way to my page, will then become my followers on Flickr. Which of course is what social networking is about.

This is an aspect of social networking that many critics of Flickr (or who say its discussion boards are defunct etc) overlook or do not understand. It is also perhaps why Flickr discussion boards are not so well used - Flickr users are visually oriented and prefer this type of networking using visual images rather than relying words - there are many other sites for that but Flickr is unique in its approach.

After all, the site is mainly about photos not jibber jabber.
 
While visiting my Flickr stream today I noticed that my ad blocker, uBlock, reports blocking 169 ad or tracking items. That is pretty extraordinary. uBlock on most large sites show ten to twenty ads or tracking requests blocked. What is going on here?
------------
Update: I went back to the site and see that uBlock is now reporting just 8 ads or trackers blocked. I made a screen shot of the 169 report, so I did not misread that report, but the current level is in the average range. Still don't know what happened, but perhaps it was just a uBlock glitch.
 
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