The Slow Death of Flickr

I uploaded my first photo to Flickr on October 13, 2004 and have uploaded almost 14,000 photos since then.

I loved that people could leave comments and that my family and friends around the world could see what I was seeing at home and on my travels.

But, this morning as I took this photo of the iced leaves beside my driveway and shared it online, it quickly became apparent to me that Flickr is on the slow death slide to not mattering any more.

Besides Flickr, I now post photos to my Google+, Instagram and 500px accounts.

There is overlap in some of the communities and what photos I share to each is sometimes unique to how I use the services. For instance, I only publish my very best to 500px and Instagram is my home for day to day snapshots.

What got me thinking about this today is that when I uploaded this photo I instantly got reactions and comments on G+ and Instagram. I even tweeted the link out to the Flickr photo and while a bunch of people viewed it not a single comment was left as of me writing this.

I share photos because I love hearing what people think about them. The power of Instagram to me isn't the filters, but the community of friends that have gathered to see my little snapshots of life and I get to peek into their lives as well. What Jane Quigley calls "moment sharing."

The interface and displaying of photos on 500px and Google+ is so much more beautiful and interesting to a photographer like me. Flickr hasn't seemed to make any changes in years.

I'll always hold a special place in my heart for Flickr because they were one of the first and my favorite for a long time. But, they've grown old, stagnant and I wonder what is going to happen to them.

Looking at them feels like looking at a friend on life support and wondering how much time they have left before they pass on into the night. I don't want it to happen, but if it is going to happen I wish it would happen quickly.