how many flickr contacts do you have?

[Neare]

I stopped using flickr quite a while ago. I guess I never really got into it (I followed 533 people and 325 followed me), I added people here and there but only ever commented on the same few peoples works. I don't think I ever participated in a group either despite joining them.

Flickr takes quite a lot of effort to be sociable. You sort of feel obligated to visit and comment on the pages of all the people who comment/fav on your stuff which turns into a chore. But why I left was due to the comments themselves from people which were exactly that, they would leave some vague, annoying one word statement about your photo (ie. "amazing" "beautiful" "great tones" "great colors" "excellent work") that had been cut and pasted to every other photo they saw that minute in search of comments for their own stream. It was a damn game for how many comments, favorites, friends etc. you could get. Personally I just think it's ultimately nonconstructive, though I did learn quite a number of things there when I started out.

 

[Brian Legge]

Enough to average perhaps 6 views per photo I take. Occasionally 20 people take a minute to look at the better ones.

I realized a long time ago that photography is about sharing for me. If I don't have anyone to share with, I get demotivated. The people checking out my work are enough for me.

 

[Mablo]

Flickr is just fantastic. The pool of interested eyes is so large. Even if your chosen genre is shooting garbage bins in the moonlight you will find your crowd. Read the article Bingley linked at and you'll see how it works.

 

[rbsinto]

really?



.

Yes. Really.

 

[hteasley]

I linked to a flickr photo of mine on reddit yesterday... a baby picture of my oldest daughter is in a video game, and yesterday was her 14th birthday, so I posted a link to r/gaming.

75,000 views by this morning. Had no idea reddit was *that* big. No comments, though.

 

[steelydam]

Currently people I follow = 56; people who follow me = 46. Most people I've added as contacts came from seeing their work posted on this site in "words/no words". This is a manageable enough number of contacts that when I check flickr there are usually several new and often interesting images but not an overwhelming number to get through.

 

[furcafe]

Contacts = 844 (of whom about 50 I follow regularly), People calling me a contact = 1043 (camera nerds of the world, unite!)

I've been on flickr since late 2004, so the contacts do accumulate over time.

 

[OurManInTangier]

...I never really clicked w/ Facebook...its like a Public Urinal 😱😱
...

Brilliant. 😀

I'm on Facebook but I really do agree with Helen, too much dirty laundry being aired.

I also have a Flickr account, my second account as I gave up first time around. I've just never got to grips with Flickr. Much like Facebook I've often wondered whether the 'friend count' is as important as anything else for many people. Plus, all that too-ing and fro-ing just to put one picture into 120 different groups, and which group?! Am I "Hardcore Street," "Extreme Street" or "Street RAW"?? The debate as to what I'm allowed to call my photography hasn't even finished yet so... where to put 'em?!🙄

There are some very good photographers using Flickr, some very good technicians and a vast ocean of dross but there are obviously plenty of ways to find a path to what you like if you're prepared to.

In the end I'm a casual peruser, enjoying some fine images and trying to ignore the stuff that winds me up.


P.S. Vincent G - thanks for your message just before Christmas and I did take a look at your Flickr account. You've got some lovely pictures of your family, I wish I had some family left to photograph. If you aren't aware of him already try tracking Bud Green down on Flickr, he concentrates his camera on his family and has built up an astonishingly initimate and touching selection of images. I'm a huge admirer.

 

[Michael Markey]

Facebook and Flickr do get a bad press and some of that is deserved.
But then I have friends who think that any kind of internet activity is vapid.
Don`t be too ready to dismiss FB.
Facebook has some interesting local history group pages .
The one covering my village is a useful repository of old and new photographs of lost buildings.
There is a lot of local historical details recorded together with old maps.
I use another special interest page twice a week to upload my equestrian pictures for the local hunt.
I`d not post these on Flickr or here but they are enjoyed by the hunt members and its a lot faster than sending them through to the official web site.

 

[shadowfox]

I believe I have concluded why I neither post nor look at photos on Flickr. My interest is simply not "pure photography". Even the prettiest of "pretty pictures" do not move me. I want to feel like the photographer is communicating some emotion, idea, or message to me. I try to do the same.

I find my needs are best met by a series of photos that work together to tell or support a message. Flickr seems to be a series of random singular photos. Now there are individual photos that tell a story. Unfortunately, I am not that talented very often nor are 99.99% of the posters there.

I do believe I am in the minority here. And I have no problems with the views of the majority working for them. I certainly am no crusader trying to get the rest of the world to see it my way. I just know where my motivations are.

Bob,
your motivation is similar to mine.
But I find out that I don't have any problems finding pictures in flickr that speak to me.

I have a list of flickr photos that I marked as 'favorite' that I enjoy looking from time to time, some of them are really good for my standard.

 

[jarski]

maybe 30. its like photo oriented facebook for me, keeping in touch some other photo enthusiast I know personally or indirectly.