And the Universe Comes Crashing Down… Maybe
So, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Flickr has decided to add video. I’m not really sure how I feel about this yet. My initial reaction is: I don’t like it. I’m a photographer. I love Flickr because it’s the ultimate photography community. I browse through Flickr to find incredible photos and to meet other photographers. I’m afraid that my Flickr experience will be cluttered with video that isn’t worth the bandwidth required for viewing it.
However, to be fair, after I started thinking about the upside, I’m perhaps a little less skeptical. Let’s look at the positives:
- Video length is limited to 90 seconds or less – I’ve seen a lot of people complain about this but I think this is a positive. As the Flickr blog put it:
“… and so what quickly bubbled up was the idea of “long photos,” of capturing slices of life to share.”
- Quality of video may be higher – While there are certainly Flickr users who do nothing but upload snapshots of things that would only be interesting to them and their immediate social circle, I get the sense that Flickr implicitly encourages people to upload quality photos. I can’t put my finger on it… it’s a just a feeling I get. Perhaps the same could happen with video.
- The embedded video player is better and cleaner than YouTube’s – See an example below:
- The potential to “explain” the shot – One of my Twitter friends, MacMoov (website) brought up an interesting idea that I hadn’t previously considered:
“what about videos of the shot? 1 place to post your photo and video to describe how the shot was done?”
I suppose that, as long as Flickr doesn’t try to become another YouTube, this might actually work out pretty well. For the time being, though, I’m adopting a wait-and-see attitude. I’m always skeptical when huge changes are introduced into something I love but maybe this will work out for the best.
Other links about the addition of Flickr video:
- Mashable
- TechCrunch
- CNet
- Washington Post
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Thomas Hawk
- Flickr group Video! Video! Video!
What are your thoughts on the changes? Good? Bad?
Popularity: 12% [?]
April 9th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I am not that much of a Flickr enthusiast, but I get your point! Flickr might just water down the very thing they had right.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
That’s what I’m afraid of, too. I’m trying to see the upside, and maybe there is one, but I guess it’s normal to be skeptical when something you’ve grown to love is undergoing changes. I guess we’ll see.
Thanks!
April 11th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Bit of a contraversial one, personally I don’t think they should have video, but it doesn’t really effect me to be honest.
11thStudio – Freelance Photography Norfolk
April 11th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Indeed. It’s been quite controversial. I think I’d be happy if Flickr gave me a convenient way to filter video out of my search and browsing experience. If I can do that, the video won’t bother me much at all.
April 12th, 2008 at 12:32 am
I’m going to have to wait this one out to see how I feel about it…I guess we have to wait and see how it evolves.
April 12th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Well I don’t like the idea of having video on flickr but i thing we just have to accept it.
It looks like a step to target a bigger market but flickr will sure be loosing its focus.
April 12th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
True… I don’t think there is much we can do about it. The good thing is, with the way the web is working nowadays, it wouldn’t take much for a decent competitor to replace Flickr if Flickr “loses its way”.
Thanks!