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flickr ,the new format (1 Viewer)

the black fox

Well-known member
not sure how many flickr users there are on here ,but the new format they have foisted upon us this week is a complete and utter mess ,rather than go into a diatribe of my own ,this is just one eloquently written letters of complaint
that i have picked up on .a stony silence from yahoo's personnel is the answer so far



Trell Burton says:

Photographers suffer accusations of paedophilia and terrorism when they are in fact just being creative. We get pushed from pillar to post and threatened with new laws and lawsuits. Police officers are happy to tell you in the street you cannot take photos without their permission when they understand little of the laws.

We’ve had equipment confiscated, and memory cards wiped. We’ve suffered arrest, then release, then apology and compensation. We’ve been thrown out of buildings and spat at in the street. Where would the world be without photography? Who would know what had happened in Rwanda, in South Africa – during the civil rights struggle of the US that has moved the world forward? Who would stand up for the little people and show what really happened at Hillsborough and the recent Boston bombings – how does all that get across to the world? Through photography.

And what about the happier times? Your wedding, your kids, your 21st birthday? What about the need for a cool passport photo? What about seeing two kids playing in a street and lifting your camera to capture a moment in time? What about following in the footsteps of Henri Cartier-Bresson?

Well now photographers the world over have been overlooked, insulted, and denounced by Yahoo. The very people who made Flickr famous have been stabbed in the back and told they do not exist by Marissa Mayar. Their needs are not appropriate in the modern world of capitalism not when there’s the 13 to 25 year old age group who enjoy messing around on their mobile phones, taking photos of their food and their endless nights out. And what’s wrong with that? Nothing, of course. That’s why that demographic is firmly embedded with Facebook and Instagram and Tumblr and Pinterest. They are comfortable with those platforms just as we were with flickr. It’s way too late in the day for Flickr to become a social network run mainly from mobile phones. To that end Yahoo, and Marissa Mayar have shot themselves in the foot. This new site will never take off with serious photographers, people who lug about heavy cameras and bags and diligently work through post production techniques. Yahoo you have told your customer base to go forth. Many, many of your customers will happily take your advice.

Let me not forget to mention the sneaky way it was done. Without warning. Without choice.

Let’s not forget anyone with an ounce of sense can see this was designed by someone with much youth and not much experience at life. Clearly someone with no understanding of photography.

Let’s not forget the deafening silence from Yahoo and Flickr and Mayar during the first 24 hours of their new site while they sit hiding reading all the feedback while 15,000 photographers at least panic about who shit on their work. Where are you Marissa? Are you afraid to speak to your customers? Or where there just so many pleas for help that you decided to disable Flickr help support until you can figure out what to do or wait for it all to blow over? This will not blow over for me. And Marrisa, with 12 photos on your Flickr account, and having been a member since December 2012 – what exactly is it you think you understand about Flickr? Not as much as us, clearly.

You have cut off the majority of UK users as we simply don’t have the bandwidth the site requires to operate. I’m guessing you knew this already. Not only that, many of us cannot even download the photos we paid and trusted you to look after. The first response I got form your help team told me it was my fault. It was my browser, it was my firewall, I need a faster connection. Grow up! It’s because you have changed the site, I changed nothing on my computer. The second response was deafening silence and that silence continues.

I, along with many others, have invested almost a decade on my Flickr account – uploading the millions of pictures you are so fond of quoting to speak of your site’s success and we never deserted you despite alterations and rumours of site obscurity. We’ve adapted to all your changes and embraced the good ones. None have been as diabolical as this one. All the others were little add ons to make the experience better and the site more functional – for photography.

Well, good luck with stealing the market from under the feet of Facebook and Instagram, you may well need it. Success is always an arc. From the mid 2000’s you were locked in obscurity and each picture we uploaded took you a little further up the arc, then a little more as the years knocked on. This resulted in you achieving fame and being the site most associated with photography (in case you don’t realise, mobile uploads are a bit of fun and cannot really be classed as photography) and photographers – though many associated with this site protest this. ‘Flickr was never built for professional photographers’. Who cares? That’s what happened - serious amateurs to those earning a living from newspaper photography have made this place their home, and you just evicted us without warning or any chance to take our things to a new home. We’re homeless now and are scrambling around in the dirt to find a new abode. You reached the top of your arc Flickr, and now you’re on the way down
 
Agreed the changes are deplorable as is the way they were sprung on us. To be fair, however, I'm finding the new Flickr somewhat more usable than I thought I would at first and will stick with it for a bit while I consider alternatives.

Speaking of alternatives, I wonder if ipernity might eventually fit the bill? It's fast and clean and all that's needed is a counter and a few other features to put it on a par with the old FlickrPro.
 
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Personally I find the new flickr to be a total mess, some of the features do not work depending on what browser you are using, Im just glad that I didnt pay for a flickr account, however the flickr app for Ipad is much more user friendly.
 
. . . however the flickr app for Ipad is much more user friendly.

Not on my iPad3 it isn't, where it's never worked well either before or after the big changes. On my Windows computer, on the other hand, it has always done much better.

Now that I think of it, most of the iPad app bugs affect features mainly of interest to FlickrPro users, such as the ability to rearrange photos within sets. Yahoo's failure to squash them should have been taken as a warning of what was to come, I guess.
 
I thought it was strange when they sent out emails to pro users early in the new year saying they were giving an extra 3 months free of charge before the subs were due for renewal. I have just had notification that my pro account will be renewed in a few weeks time at the old price of $25 - The only thing you now get for your money is no ads (for new users it will cost $50 just to get rid of the ads!!).
Has anyone used the new site with the adverts yet? I am thinking of not renewing my pro account but was wandering just how off putting the ads are.

I am finding the new site usable but somewhat slower than before due to the huge pixel size pics they now allow I guess. certainly do not like the new layout.
 
I agree that the new format demands a lot of band width and it is annoyingly slow. I find the new format slightly easier to maneuver than the old one and like the layout. I found the posted letter to be heavy with overblown rhetoric and a bit light on facts.
 
i changed to a free account last night roy ,a couple of ads on far right of page thats it no problem ,do you realise by accepting there offer of 3 months free you are allowing them to ad lib your paypal/bank account ,they will just take what they want .and after this debacle any trust in them has gone right out of the window


herman goering once said if any british bombers fly over the ruhr you call call me MAYER

looks like he's come back to bite us on the bum
 
i changed to a free account last night roy ,a couple of ads on far right of page thats it no problem ,do you realise by accepting there offer of 3 months free you are allowing them to ad lib your paypal/bank account ,they will just take what they want .and after this debacle any trust in them has gone right out of the window


herman goering once said if any british bombers fly over the ruhr you call call me MAYER

looks like he's come back to bite us on the bum
I have now cancelled my pro subscription and moved to Free. If I do not get on with it I will just concentrate on my 500px account.
 
I just paid for pro 6-7 months ago for 2 years, so why revert to free? I have broadband, so the new layout and larger sizes are not a problem per se, but do take some getting used to. I guess I'll wait and see how things develop, but all the stories about the lack of response from Yahoo and Yahoo's general reputation are not encouraging. At least I have some time to look for a new home for my pics :)
 
because ron as i said ,can you really TRUST them ,they have shown there true colours over the last few days ,it seems all they want is kids with mobile phone pics on there ,hence the dropping of the pro status i wouldnt be surprised if tumblr is incorporated into flickr shortly ,they have a game plan thats for sure .and i for one dont wish to subscribe to a facebook type site
 
I have a reasonable web download speed and up to now I have coped OK with the new site but this morning I am finding Flickr unusable. It took for ever to log in and then it completely bombed out :C:C:C
 
they are also shutting down all the complaint threads on the help forum ,i will give them time to sort it out but right now they are not my priority site any longer 500px is getting my time and backing
 
Love the new flickr, works well on my imac on both Safari and Firefox and my iPad don't forget BT Broadband users get a pro account for free
 
I am having great problems with firefox with Flickr (it was OK Thursday but crap yesterday) - certain elements do not work (for instance the 3 small dots on the bottom right under the pic which enables view EXIF ect). But with Chrome it seems to work fine. I am not sure why anyone would even want a pro account any more (I have not even seen any adverts yet!!!!!!!!!).
 
Much of this seems to be "its not what it was yesterday" stuff, which was my immediate reaction too.

Personally I am finding the new set up easier to navigate and more intuitive to use, and I quite like the loads of pics in your face arrangements. Upload is no quicker - but no slower.

John
 
Much of this seems to be "its not what it was yesterday" stuff, which was my immediate reaction too.

Personally I am finding the new set up easier to navigate and more intuitive to use, and I quite like the loads of pics in your face arrangements. Upload is no quicker - but no slower.

John

Navigation is slower for me
Takes ages for the "front page" to load fully

who decides what goes on the front page

some of my narrative has been lost

I do not like it at all - it must be a move by Yahoo to make more money by advertising or a more to some kind of "social media" type forum

The weather down here has been miserable so far this year ...... worst in my 25 year memory of being here ....... still bloody cold ...... was mid 20's in May 1012 ...... May 2013 is all blue ........on the weather chart ...... maybe that's why I am in such a bad mood!!!
 
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I don't use Flickr very much. I prefer Photobucket as a free place that I use for some uploads, although that has been changed too and I don't like the changes. For a paid storage site, I use Smugmug. I think I'm paying $8.00 a month for it. I find it pretty good although sometimes a bit confusing to navigate the admin. tools.
 
Navigation is slower for me
Takes ages for the "front page" to load fully

who decides what goes on the front page

some of my narrative has been lost

I do not like it at all - it must be a move by Yahoo to make more money by advertising or a more to some kind of "social media" type forum

The weather down here has been miserable so far this year ...... worst in my 25 year memory of being here ....... still bloody cold ...... was mid 20's in May 1012 ...... May 2013 is all blue ........on the weather chart ...... maybe that's why I am in such a bad mood!!!

Be thankful you aren't up here, it snowed briefly in Hampshire on Thursday 23rd May!!!!

John
 
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