The problem with Flickr
Another of my 28 Things was to start using the account I opened with Flickr a while back.
As an experiment a few days ago, I uploaded a batch of photos from a couple of my North Pole expeditions. Within hours, comments appeared, the page views shot through the roof and I had dozens of messages saying people had added me to their contacts.
The problem with Flickr is that it's just too good. There are so many gorgeous photos that you could lose days browsing through, and it's a devastatingly effective medium for social networking (neither of which I really have much free time for).
I've taken the photos down again for now - I'm slightly concerned about people nicking expedition photos that I've nearly lost digits trying to take, but the main reason was that checking in on who was looking at my photos (and what they were saying about them) was so compelling that I could see it was going to take up a lot of time…
I know a lot of you use Flickr - are you all insatiable junkies, or did the initial excitement wane after a while?
August 12th, 2005 at 1:17 am
i was a junky for awhile, but then it wore off– i still take pictures, but uploading them to flickr and tagging them, and adding commentary sometimes takes more time than i'd like for it to.
August 12th, 2005 at 1:36 am
I'm kind of a flickr junky, I admit. I derive some real satisfaction from seeing my photos there, and I enjoy looking at photos, both by people I know and people I don't.
The initial frenzy has largely died down, though; these days I don't feel compelled to check for comments on my photos all that often (though it's always exciting, still, when people notice my shots)…
August 12th, 2005 at 2:31 pm
I recall sometime ago being involved in a discussion
about ways to add copywrite info to one's photos to protect
them. Not familiar about how it works in England but wouldn't
that help protect your data rights?
August 12th, 2005 at 4:04 pm
Just go private, and filter by invites only those you want to comment and view photos. : - )
August 12th, 2005 at 7:40 pm
flickr is a mobile phone photo repository for me pretty much. it gives you something to do with the pics you take with your phone… I email them straight in from the handset and it's kinda cool…
'bigger' photo's tend to just go into iPhoto unless I want to share them…
stick with it Ben!
August 13th, 2005 at 5:36 am
I don't get pro photographers
I'm a big fan of Ben Saunders, mostly because I get to vicariously live through him (and I do plan on donating to his next big adventure), but in this entry he says: I've taken the photos down again for…
August 13th, 2005 at 9:27 am
If your photos are popular on Flickr, why not run with it? You can restrict access to the full-size images quite easily. If they continue to get a lot of page views, you could probably sell prints off your site. The flash galleries on your site are sweet though.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
I totally agree with you, Flickr is amazingly good! I can lose hours of my day if I don't watch my clickin' in there… But still, I have to agree with some of the others here; your photos are just too great for not showing to the world, and when it comes to photography online, Flickr is just unrivaled. Your site design is fantastic too by the way!
August 17th, 2005 at 2:09 pm
John has pointed me at a nice way of highlighting photo attribution/licensing on Flickr without it being too in-your-face - http://www.flickr.com/photos/x180/10141904/ - so I guess they'll be going back up again soon…