Oh, man, this rings so true. So much about what I like about my life since I joined Flickr in the fall of 2004 is tied to Flickr in one way or another. The major difference between Flickr and Instagram is that we didn't just scroll by. Actual conversations were had, and if you liked what someone had to say, or appreciated their sense of humour, you'd click over to their stream and see what their photos were like, and then you'd see comments there and find someone else to engage with, and it just went on and on... Flickr for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and midnight snack.
I met well over a hundred people in person (maybe even two hundred) thanks to Flickr, and so many of those people continue to be real-life friends today. One contact invited me to stay with her and her family in Paris, which—thanks to my having missed my flight home—turned into one of the best three-week periods of my life, both in what I experienced and in the friendships I made. I continue to try to learn French.
I moved to San Francisco to live with another Flickr contact. After making the move, and with not a single client in my pocket, my quasi-successful photography career got a huge jump start thanks to another Flickr contact when she asked me to photograph her brother's 70th birthday party.
I have tried several times to renew my activity at Flickr, but it doesn't really seem to click, and that makes me sad. Since so much of our online activity now is done via our phones, the scroll-by-tap-to-like Instagram experience replicates itself at Flickr. I continue to purchase Pro membership mostly because I don't want those conversations to vanish, even though many of the participants have either deleted their accounts or have chosen not to maintain their Pro statuses.
I’m still on Flickr, mostly using it for photo backup storage (with 90%+ of my photos being private). I’m doing a 365 project again this year, but yeah, it’s not the same anymore. I think the whole shift in how people use social media has also changed the way people use Flickr. And, of course, phone pics. You can still find good photos on Flickr, but the social aspect is all but gone.
Sent here by Patrick and so enjoyed traveling with you down memory lane. He and many of my Flickr friends came to Baltimore for my book release party, and I can't imagine having done it without them! I'm still close with so many of them that we chat by phone, text, and email—apart from Facebook—often!
Only once did I meet someone on Flickr in real life who gave me the heebie jeebies. I think it's easy to tell the quality of someone's character, even online. That's why I was successful with the dozens I did meet.
I sometimes mourn Flickr's level of community and creative connection. Grateful that I've maintained many of those friendships, and even do a bit of freelance work with folks I met there. I'll soon celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary with someone I met on Fotolog (Flickr's predecessor that we all migrated to Flickr from).
I'm still connected with many Flickr friends and mutuals on Instagram, but it just isn't the same.
Friendship is so hard. I’ve concluded that I’m not very good at it, despite my best intentions. The need to make a creativity a habit is something I’m learning all over again, again and again.
Oh, man, this rings so true. So much about what I like about my life since I joined Flickr in the fall of 2004 is tied to Flickr in one way or another. The major difference between Flickr and Instagram is that we didn't just scroll by. Actual conversations were had, and if you liked what someone had to say, or appreciated their sense of humour, you'd click over to their stream and see what their photos were like, and then you'd see comments there and find someone else to engage with, and it just went on and on... Flickr for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and midnight snack.
I met well over a hundred people in person (maybe even two hundred) thanks to Flickr, and so many of those people continue to be real-life friends today. One contact invited me to stay with her and her family in Paris, which—thanks to my having missed my flight home—turned into one of the best three-week periods of my life, both in what I experienced and in the friendships I made. I continue to try to learn French.
I moved to San Francisco to live with another Flickr contact. After making the move, and with not a single client in my pocket, my quasi-successful photography career got a huge jump start thanks to another Flickr contact when she asked me to photograph her brother's 70th birthday party.
https://medium.com/@ptpower/anatomy-of-a-picture-abc1fc304e6b
I have tried several times to renew my activity at Flickr, but it doesn't really seem to click, and that makes me sad. Since so much of our online activity now is done via our phones, the scroll-by-tap-to-like Instagram experience replicates itself at Flickr. I continue to purchase Pro membership mostly because I don't want those conversations to vanish, even though many of the participants have either deleted their accounts or have chosen not to maintain their Pro statuses.
I’m still on Flickr, mostly using it for photo backup storage (with 90%+ of my photos being private). I’m doing a 365 project again this year, but yeah, it’s not the same anymore. I think the whole shift in how people use social media has also changed the way people use Flickr. And, of course, phone pics. You can still find good photos on Flickr, but the social aspect is all but gone.
Sent here by Patrick and so enjoyed traveling with you down memory lane. He and many of my Flickr friends came to Baltimore for my book release party, and I can't imagine having done it without them! I'm still close with so many of them that we chat by phone, text, and email—apart from Facebook—often!
Only once did I meet someone on Flickr in real life who gave me the heebie jeebies. I think it's easy to tell the quality of someone's character, even online. That's why I was successful with the dozens I did meet.
Oh wow. I feel this.
I sometimes mourn Flickr's level of community and creative connection. Grateful that I've maintained many of those friendships, and even do a bit of freelance work with folks I met there. I'll soon celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary with someone I met on Fotolog (Flickr's predecessor that we all migrated to Flickr from).
I'm still connected with many Flickr friends and mutuals on Instagram, but it just isn't the same.
Thanks for writing so eloquently about it here.
Friendship is so hard. I’ve concluded that I’m not very good at it, despite my best intentions. The need to make a creativity a habit is something I’m learning all over again, again and again.
ahhhh the days of flickr! how i miss them <3 also, lovely photos Leah!
If I could work out how to paste a sparkly unicorn gif here I would