Did something last week that I know most of you will think is crazy: I bought two more years on Flickr. Trust me, I think it’s pretty crazy, too.
I used Instagram for a while, but I realized those pics are trapped in an ecosystem that’s just as complicated as Flickr, but without sets and at much lower resolution.
Privacy is important, too. Flickr offers me options. I don’t need to broadcast everything. If I want to share, I’ll twitpic and be done with it. Filters are nice, but a bit gimmicky and square photos have meant that more than one great image of my son crops his head off when I try to print. Bummer, that.
To top it off, I have a ton of photos hosted on Flickr, going back six years. Do I wish I’d snagged my real name instead of my ’00s alias? Yes, but they’re memories, no matter how silly the permalink.
Am I afraid of what might happen in the near future at Flickr? Of course. The Delicious spinoff went about as badly as possible. But I have to believe that Flickr can be adapted to a more social mobile experience that still delivers what people loved about the service when they first bought a pro account. At least I hope so.
So ‘fess up: who still uses and enjoys Flickr? Let’s connect!