Is it Time to Go Back to Flickr?

SmugMug recently acquired Flickr after some mismanagement by both Yahoo! and Verizon. Now that it’s owned by an actual photography company run by real photographers, is it time for us to embrace Flickr again?

I, like many others, had a Flickr account that just slowly went by the wayside. There was just too much else to keep up with and something had to give. Flickr was it for many users, while other photographers thrived on the platform.

Those of us who abandoned Flickr for Facebook, Instagram, and Google Plus – at least to build a community – might be second-guessing ourselves now.

Social media platforms for photographers

Google Plus was a fun forum for photographers. The images looked great and there were some fun groups. There were also the added SEO benefits. But it’s officially dead, and there’s nothing else to say on the subject.

Facebook…ugh. First, business pages had to pay to advertise to new followers. Then business pages had to pay for those “bought” followers to see their posts. Now Facebook doesn’t want to show those posts at all in order to promote a more “organic, friend-centric experience” on Facebook. Which I think is great. Some photographers are still hanging on, but it lacks the character we seek in a photography community.

It’s no secret that I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram. It’s important to have a presence on there, but it’s saturated with narcissists, bots, and fake accounts. I recently cleaned out half of my followers who were all comprised of such accounts. I’m sick of the “algorithm rules” to get my photos seen. Instagram has the potential to be a user-friendly community where people can discuss photography, travel, and inspiration. But so much of it lacks sincerity and authenticity.

Even though I haven’t posted anything to Flickr in years, I’d still occasionally visit the platform to look at images created with certain cameras, lenses, and photographers. It still maintained that genuine community feel, tucked away in a quiet little corner of the Internet.

What’s next for Flickr?

What will the future hold for Flickr? You can read about many of the upcoming changes in this Flickr blog post. Some of them include dropping the Yahoo login, being even freer of spam and bots than they were before, analytics, and being ad-free.

A Flickr Pro account is less than $5/month when billed annually. This includes an ad-free experience, unlimited storage, and deals on other photography-related services.

Worth it?

I think so. I’d easily shell out $5 a month to finally have a photography community created by and for photographers. No sponsored posts, no product-pushing, no spam comments (???? nice photo, now please follow me!????)…just photography. I have a strong feeling that Flickr is better than Instagram for that purpose, though Instagram retains its own, different, wider purpose.

I’ve happily used SmugMug for years for my own photography portfolio and was rather excited to hear that they’d be bringing their ideas to Flickr.

You can bet I’ll still be active on Instagram, but right now I’m figuring out how to go forward with Flickr (more than just adding photos).

Now what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.