Yahoo woes on Flickr (meandering rant)

[mani]

Yahoo is such a mess. A headless giant that lurches from one clumsy disaster to the next. While I generally like the visual aspects of the Flickr re-design the last couple years, it felt like too little too late: a one-off burst of interest from the monolithic and indifferent owner. And never really technically resolved: any sort of search will still fire up the fans on even the latest laptop because of the poorly implemented javascript.

I've had a Flickr pro account that idly renews for the past few years. Each time this happens, I think that maybe I should actually start using the service again. But somehow Yahoo's ugly claws always puts me off: for a while it was the stupendously ugly purple navigation bar they placed at the top of every page, at other times it was the frustration and extreme irritation of simply logging-in through my hated (and totally unused) Yahoo ID.

Each and every single time I would attempt to log-in, I'd have to jump through multiple hoops, get referred and redirected through one online form after another - each accompanied by intrusive, full-page Yahoo advertisements - before finally landing on the Yahoo News page: a place I never, ever want to see under any circumstances.

The full-page advertisements that accompany this torture are symptomatic of Yahoo's tone-deafness: why on earth would anyone being put through the horror of their convoluted, Kafkaesque failed log-in process want to suddenly start clicking on a Yahoo ad? But that's a digression.

In any case, this time I thought I should finally take control of the Flickr account. Make sure everything is in order before Yahoo goes under. Naturally, this is easier said than done.

Apparently Flickr had some sort of undefined server 'crash' on March 31 affecting membership details, so now the forum has an 'official' thread to help users with problems logging-in. Ironically, to post on that thread you have to be logged-in - but that's also a digression.

If anyone wants to experience the true nightmare of how a faceless (and utterly soulless) bureacracy runs a company, then try dealing with Yahoo. The failed log-in process is perfectly circular - the end refers you back to the beginning, with no way out.

Somewhere buried on a Yahoo page you can find a tiny, obscure button saying 'CONTACT US', but this is a lie: the button leads to a so-called 'help' page, that steps you painfully and slowly through the steps you've already taken - and then back to the beginning of the circle again. And no contact was ever a possibility. Not even one that promises to 'get back to you' but never does.

It would be nice to think that Yahoo might sell Flickr to someone who cares. But they won't. No-one actually does care what happens to it anymore, so I imagine it will go down with its monstrous parent. It's a pity - I still enjoy browsing other people's images.

 

[css9450]

- before finally landing on the Yahoo News page: a place I never, ever want to see under any circumstances.

Let me guess: Its full of fake "news" such as "17 Celebrities You Didn't Know had Plastic Surgery". Horrible. I wouldn't want to see that either. Somehow I am able to get to Flickr without seeing that, luckily for me.

What I have trouble seeing, is an easy way to get to Yahoo "Groups". Yahoo years ago merged "Clubs" and "Groups" but has since let Groups wither and nearly die. Most Groups are in fact dead, but I'm on one that is still pretty active. Its just so incredibly awkward to get there to see it anymore...

 

[jarski]

Some pay, don't use but whine instead. I don't pay and just use.

Agreed, future of Flickr seems bit uncertain as it might be for sell.

 

[Keith]

The only Sony products I have are the Playstation PS3 and PS4. When my PS4 was new I had problems connecting it with WiFi, sometimes it just crashed. On the Sony webpage you can go through a page by page help and at the end you are asked if it works now. "If not, send the product back" was the solution. No way to contact a call center or something like that. And that with a real product, not an online service.

My company tries to prevent people from contacting the callcenter too because every human contact is extremely costly. Modern times.

I really resent the way this happens personally. It totally dehumanises the contact between the supplier and the customer.

 

[mdarnton]

I've been using Flickr for years. Every time they change something, the whining starts. The resulting product is usually an improvement, but people can't stand change. Personally, I find the whining more offensive than the change. If people don't like it, I wish they'd just go somewhere else without all of the baby noise.

Go move to 500pix. Everyone likes that. I can't for the life of me understand how photographers would tolerate a service that crops thumbnails to squares, ruining every single photo, but there's no accounting for taste. Just go quietly, please.

 

[mani]

I've been using Flickr for years. Every time they change something, the whining starts. The resulting product is usually an improvement, but people can't stand change. Personally, I find the whining more offensive than the change. If people don't like it, I wish they'd just go somewhere else without all of the baby noise.

Go move to 500pix. Everyone likes that. I can't for the life of me understand how photographers would tolerate a service that crops thumbnails to squares, ruining every single photo, but there's no accounting for taste. Just go quietly, please.

I don't think you even read my rant. For goodness sake before you start whining about my whining, the LEAST you can do is read what I'm complaining about. Seriously.

Did you even see the part where I said I like the new design? I've frequently posted in defense of the new version on RFF - just take a look at past threads of people attacking Flickr - even though (as I said above) the programming behind the new visuals still hasn't attained the stability it should have had from the start.

My rant is about the trouble I've consistently had getting into my Flickr account - which began when Yahoo took over and switched everyone to YahooIDs, and which has now culminated in what currently appears to be an irreversible lockout.

Congratulations if you haven't had these problems. It seems like some do and some don't. I still get notified when Yahoo have taken payment from my account. They also mail me saying they see 'suspicious activity' on my account each time I try to log-in.

But the one thing I can't do is actually use my Pro account. Sorry if it upsets you when I write about this and you feel you have to whine about it.

 

[mani]

Some pay, don't use but whine instead.

Haha thanks also for your constructive input, Jarski.

I see RFF as an open forum about all sorts of photographic-related discussions. Sometimes the threads here disseminate or archive knowledge, sometimes they spread enthusiasm, sometimes they simply ask for opinions, or even give them, unasked.

This particular thread was just my experience with Yahoo. By all means disagree. Better still, tell me how I can get back into my (paid) Flickr account - which Yahoo has locked me out of.
But, in my opinion, just using the traditional internet 'stop whining' response is even more worthless than my original long rant against the moribund Yahoo behemoth.

 

[farlymac]

It's funny, I don't have any of those log-on problems, Mani. If you click the "Keep Me Logged In" button, then you should be able to get to Flickr anytime. I only have to renew the log-on about once a week, but that only affects the Mail portion, not Flickr. One other thing is if you clean out your cookies often, that will log-you off at Yahoo and Flickr.

I have read of folks getting locked out of their Flickr accounts, and having much difficulty getting back in only to find all their photos are gone too. It may have something to do with the inactivity timer of the system thinking you haven't been there enough, and thus might be dead. At that point, it automatically deletes all content.

My only beef with the system right now is the big difference in usability between the desktop, and mobile versions. I can't do as much on my phone, but at least I can zip through the New Activity section when I have some down time. That always takes forever on the desktop because I'm running an ancient Pentium 4 machine.

PF

 

[btgc]

This year I didn't extend pro subscription. Since stats are on steroids they are not useful for me anymore and in fact I've lost interest in them even longer before. Everything else is there and now I can't whine if they redo groups or UI again. And even if money itself weren't decision factor, when I started, $25 were about 12-13 national coins, now this translates to eur22. 22 is about twice as 12, right? Damn perception

 

[mani]

It's funny, I don't have any of those log-on problems, Mani. If you click the "Keep Me Logged In" button, then you should be able to get to Flickr anytime. I only have to renew the log-on about once a week, but that only affects the Mail portion, not Flickr. One other thing is if you clean out your cookies often, that will log-you off at Yahoo and Flickr.

I have read of folks getting locked out of their Flickr accounts, and having much difficulty getting back in only to find all their photos are gone too. It may have something to do with the inactivity timer of the system thinking you haven't been there enough, and thus might be dead. At that point, it automatically deletes all content.

PF

Thanks PF.
I agree the problems I've had stem at least partly from my inactivity on Flickr: for a few years I'm mostly there to look at other people's images, and because of this I tend to not bother logging-in to my account.

For a long time what I considered to be a really ugly defacing of the interface - the bright purple Yahoo navigation bar - was only visible to me when I was logged-in, but was absent when I didn't bother. So I had an incentive to be anonymous while there.

But as I said above, since the new interface - which I vastly prefer over the old design - I've been meaning to get started on using Flickr myself again. With some good fortune, a company that knows what to do with the site might buy it. Then I won't need to whine about being consistently locked-out of my account by a faceless mastodon with absolutely no customer support.

 

[Lauffray]

I don't think you even read my rant. For goodness sake before you start whining about my whining, the LEAST you can do is read what I'm complaining about. Seriously.

Well what exactly are you on about ?

 

[farlymac]

What I really like about Flickr right now is the fact Yahoo doesn't have any money to pay the IT lackeys to play around with the site, thus there is no one around making changes to justify their jobs.

And as much as I feel it's the "investors" (greedy fund managers) fault someone like Ms Mayer got hired, whomever replaces her hopefully won't be under the same sort of pressure to squeeze a penny from every pixel.

PF

 

[Scapevision]

Some pay, don't use but whine instead. I don't pay and just use.

Agreed, future of Flickr seems bit uncertain as it might be for sell.

This is funny, but this has also been my experience. Stuff just works when you don't pay for it.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I bookmarked my mail and flickr accounts many moons ago and access them on a daily basis without problems. Not sure what this rant is about.

 

[mani]

I bookmarked my mail and flickr accounts many moons ago and access them on a daily basis without problems. Not sure what this rant is about.

You're the second person saying you don't know what my rant is about - even though I explained it pretty thoroughly in my view. I even clarified a bit more that it was probably at least partly due to my hardly ever logging-in to my account - which is why I guess you haven't experienced it.

I get pretty sad that people lack any understanding or even patience to bother trying to see the world through other people's experiences. If it hasn't happened to them, then it's not a valid viewpoint - or even never happened at all.

Fwiw the thread on The Flickr forum which is supposed to 'help' the people locked out of their pro accounts continues to grow. They obviously all just made up their problems - whiners basically.

 

[user237428934]

I get pretty sad that people lack any understanding or even patience to bother trying to see the world through other people's experiences. If it hasn't happened to them, then it's not a valid viewpoint - or even never happened at all.

Fwiw the thread on The Flickr forum which is supposed to 'help' the people locked out of their pro accounts continues to grow. They obviously all just made up their problems - whiners basically.

I understand that it's annoying when you can't access your account and don't even find someone to help you out.

What I don't understand is your rant about the colors of a banner or ads popping up. Colors are a matter of taste. I just went to www.yahoo.de and was surprised that this page even exists and how it looked. I have my yahoo account so many years but I go to mail.yahoo.de or flickr.com directly and they look more usable than the start portal.

 

[Out to Lunch]

All the trouble in the world. Yawn...

 

[mani]

All the trouble in the world. Yawn...

But what's your point? How are you helping? Why do you bother? Just to make my day worse? To make other people feel bad? What's your motivation? I'm GENUINELY curious.

Seriously, more and more on this forum I see people who post just to criticize or make someone else unhappy or to mock someone else's problems whether big or small. I'm not really sure why. I genuinely don't understand what's behind it? Their personal unhappiness? Loneliness? I seriously don't know.

I develop software, and for me the broken Yahoo system is a genuine frustration and an enigma. They wanted to be a social network giant, but they can't even maintain a single point of contact with their customers. When I report about this on the forum - in what I thought was a quite light-hearted way - people are just 'whatever, yawn, suck it up, what are you whining about'.

There are days when I just don't understand this place, or the people on it.

 

[back alley]

i could not use my flickr account for almost a year.
why?
because i could not sign in to my account...i contacted flickr/yahoo a dozen times and never got a reply...there was info on their site as to getting access which i followed to a T and it never worked!!!!
finally, by accident, i came across the flickr/yahoo page on facebook, wrote about my frustration and actually got a reply and then later, the instructions on how to get my self back on.

 

[jarski]

When I report about this on the forum - in what I thought was a quite light-hearted way - people are just 'whatever, yawn, suck it up, what are you whining about'.

light-hearted report and declaring a rant in subject are two different things, least for me.

as back alley wrote above, seems there is a glitch in Flickr login that several people can have. maybe sticky thread somewhere in this forum can help spread information about it?