Instagram betrays Photographers, Flickr is dead, 500px sucks. Where to go now?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Instagram is quickly moving away from photography, Flickr is no longer actively developed (and buggy), and 500px is a community of bots. Where should photographers go now?
I filmed the video with this camera amzn.to/3zQiwA5 and I flew this drone (with the BetaFPV x Insta360 camera) to get the FPV footage: betafpv.com/pr...
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Great video thanks 👏👏
Have you looked at Clickasnap? It's only about 3 years old
YouPic is a nice alternative but is under payment. But the problem is, until photographers don’t cooperate and work together against social media, nothing will change. Until they are on their own, with their beautiful pictures and they want to be the star … social media will always give what people wants. Artists, works on their own, so, have more groups which will “fight”, to have a better social media , will be impossible…
I have been more active on reddit than any of the above. Dedicated communities for almost any style of photography imagineable, downside is that there are plenty of bots... but they're not too bad once you can see through them.
How about a ViewBug? It looks like the community there is pretty active
I find that TH-cam has the best community for photographers right now, perhaps, ironically.
Agree!
th-cam.com/users/kerrsteel
True :) i notice it also in my video's around photography that they work really well and get viewers on a long term and not just for one day. I also really like the comments and talks on here!
For real!:)
This seems to be true, unfortunately I am quite camera shy and very hesitant to post anything on here, at least with my face in it. Perhaps I could do voiceovers.
I’ve done Flickr, Facebook, Instagram and now I’m back on Flickr. Yes it’s a bit quiet but I think with a bit of time more and more photographers will return once they realise the grass isn’t greener on the other anti social platforms.
Same here. Agreed.
3 years later, I also joined flickr and it's really nice. I don't know how it used to be but it seems to me that it's actually pretty lively. Most importantly, I am surprised why so few youtubers are promoting Flickr. It doesn't seem interested in gathering influencers to promote it.
Photographers have mostly abandoned Flickr, which has caused it to fall from its former grace. Traffic through the site drives advertising and advertising drives investment. I too also noticed Insta is turning into TikTok and photography likes and comments are diminishing as a result.
Flickr are not trying to become TikTok and have remained loyal to Photography and Photographers. Photographers need to realise this and give it some traffic love again.
The answer is still Flickr. You all abandoned it for the New Hotness and now that the New Hotness doesn't need you anymore you're all left with your asses hanging in the wind. Communities dying isn't always the platform's fault.
This is such a funny comment, and unfortunately true. In talking with a lot of old photographer friends, I've realized that we all miss Flickr, and haven't been able to recreate the sense of community on any other site....and it's our fault! We are the ones who left something that we loved, and I still don't truly know why.
lmao winning comment! 😂
Yes, but it would be great to see some improvement in APP UI and functionality. Uploading interface is outdated for instance. Auto Sync function would be nice.
Very true, the app is not the community, people are
Agreed on all points but I'd like to add that it's not just an IG or Flickr problem. We aren't just waiting on the next great photo sharing app. Media is heavily trending toward video content, so unless there's a change back toward photos, I don't see a new, photo-centric app gaining the popularity that these apps once had.
again, too much TikTok
After years of being away from Flickr, I've abandoned Instagram and have gone back to Flickr. Instagram is just such a horrible mess and I hate it now.
And no, I will not be the one who will build the next big thing. I already built a tech startup from scratch, and it is so exhausting and painful that I feel once per lifetime is enough ;) More on that journey here: th-cam.com/video/LfHvh87gm7M/w-d-xo.html
You've liked your own comment?
@@bobcowley9370 I put a heart on it so it is seen by more people, not because I need more validation 😉
Photography isn't appreciated on Instagram, people are more interested in lame a$$ tiktok videos.
I like the new Flickr. Quite a number of bug fixes and almost no bad pandas any more. I have been posting photos online since 2005. Flickr since 2007. So I’ve seen the different platforms rise and fall. And I’ve seen users come and go. I think the lack of community is bigger than photo sharing sites. We are losing a sense of community in general, and many of us went to the Internet in hopes of finding something centred around our interests. But it takes more than that, and I guess I’m a little jaded now, wondering if it’s really possible. I see the same thing happening with TH-cam. Commercialization, is a necessary part, but it tends to devolve platforms to the lowest average.
I certainly agree with you about TH-cam. I, too, post on Flickr, and I like it.
I'm also posting on Flickr and liking it. The subscription is worth it. If they had a blog feature and the option to use customized url, I would have spent all my focus there.
@@peterkaltoft8032 I’ve never used Flickr, are there people on there that aren’t photographers? On Instagram you reach the average person that wants to just enjoy art. I personally want to reach people that aren’t photographers…
@@stephencarmickle I have had a long run on Flickr and still enjoy many of its features. The best feature is you can view the settings used for an image you like (camera, lense, ISO, etc). I use Flickr as a tool to teach myself how to attempt to achieve a certain result. They however need to fix a handful of undesirable issues. Until then not a subscriber.
@@stephencarmickle yes, lots of just interested people following photographers on there.
I print my photos in 12x18 and keep them in photo portfolio binders. The reaction from people who view them is much more satisfying and flattering than handing someone your cellphone to show them another photo. Online galleries make your photos appear generic. We view hundreds of photos on our phones, tablets every day. A print is a whole new world. IG is a platform for narcissists and wannabe porn stars.
Soon do you just carry a binder with you everywhere?
@@jakeshields4830 No, I don't expect to show my photos when ordering my burger.
@Cameras, Clocks & Watches absolutely true
@@marekeos Wait why not? Maybe not while your ordering but if you strike up a conversation with somebody while your waiting for your burger that conversation may lead to you telling them you a photographer. Would be nice to have your binder with you to show them your work and what you do.
Spot on.
The only way to stand out anymore, is to be unconventional and true to the actual craft, even the inflated ego of HCB would be crushed by some influencing wannabe today.
The price of a wonderful photo has also dropped to nothing in a decade, that is also something to consider, perhaps the money is in doing an actual job or two, or, dare I say, a handcrafted print? :)
I use Flickr and know loads of other photographers who are active. I have an Instagram account but don't like it as all the images are very small and I find it tedious to use, Flickr, on the other hand allows good quality images to be viewed at a good size and resolution and, personally, I like to see all the info about what equipment and settings were used for the photos as I find that very instructional. Sorry, Mr Widell, I don't agree with your views.
Ultimately it’s about who you want to engage. It’s nice to have photographers say wow great exposure. However that doesn’t pay the bills. Instagram is not about photography it’s about making contacts. It’s not wonderful but it is a useful marketing tool, Flickr? Never was about that
Agree completely. Instagram isn’t for photography.
I agree. I actually post all of my images to Flickr and then cross-post them from there to Instagram and/or Twitter. Flickr is still the best by far and I've been there since 2005 so I've seen a load of changes.
What's worse than it was? It's much bigger and therefore somehow less personal. What's better? Functionality. Stability. Groups. Sharing options.
Flickr is what you make it. Best of all is that there are users of all skill levels and of all kit types, from phone cams to high end pro gear. There's something for everyone, if you're prepared to look for it.
totally agree with you Brian.
Some combination of Instagram and Flickr would be the best thing in my opinion. Keep the high quality images with variable resolution and the metadata from Flickr. Add the viral potential, algorithms and ergonomics from Instagram.
I was just venting these exact frustrations last week. Algorithms and bots have ruined every photo community available. You’re right. Instagram is not about photography anymore, 500px is just way too saturated, and Flickr feels abandoned. Honestly, if someone created a platform that is basically an early version of Instagram, I feel like so many people would flock to it and leave Instagram in the dust. Zuck has completely demolished the app like everything else he touches. I was never one to be obsessed with likes and comments but being a photographer, it’s how we get exposure. I now average about 10 likes a post. 10! I might as well delete my account at this point
Here's a crazy thing to add....now it looks like Twitter may be the new IG over time....at least for a time...
I average 3 likes a post so I feel it
Yeah I don’t get as many bookings now as I was relying on IG for most of my clients.
@@207888 damnnn
@@recklessthor4 Even with adding a slew of hashtags, I still only manage a handful of likes
I have say you are spot on with your review. I have 500px and Flickr but haven't been posting any photos on either for sometime now. So recently I tried posting some photos on each and only got a few responses and they were probably bots. My immediate reaction was that my photos didn't have enough impact.
To test my theory I reposted some photos from several ago that had great responses and comments that looked genuine and they had little or no response.
So I then searched the internet for answers and found your video and found my answer. It is very disconcerting that this is all we can get.
However, there is an alternative. Try joining a local photo club in your area. I have been member of a local photo club for 8 years and really enjoy the competitions and guest speakers, workshops, field trips, etc. You can also make some new friends with similar interests in photography and improve your skills.
I was invited to speak at my local photo club this autumn, looking forward to that :)
Ive been on flickr since the beginning and moved away 8 years ago when it started going to crap. I jumped on the ig bandwagon but as we have seen they have become crap too. I am now back on Flickr and honestly it's such a nice change. Pictures are bigger, community is more photography minded rather than self promoting, easy to search multiple hashtags, etc. I'm happy to be back and i foresee a lot of others coming back.
Folk seem to have been saying for years that Flickr is 'dead'... Sure seems alive to me though! I threw IG and FB in the trash. I seem to make meaningful long term 'friendships' on Flickr.
I agree with you! These are community websites, it’s the people that make it what it is and you get out what you put in.
Yes it's alive and kicking but I don't think it's gaining new users or eyeballs in any significant way.
Compared to what Flickr was 10 years ago, it is definetely dead. Look at the Explored page. Maybe the top 10 photos are great but the rest is just rubbish. It means the most talented photographers don't really post there amymore like they used to..
Not to mention the look hasn't been upgraded for like 10 years.. no effort what so ever is being done to develope it..
@@teemukustila What do you want it to be? It’s like any community site, it’s down to the people that post there to make it what it is. If you don’t communicate with people on it then don’t expect nothing in return. I have been there for 10 years and have seen plenty of new talented people join and post there.
More alive than ever! My average daily views is 80,000. Never say that anywhere else.
Art Walks are where its at, if you’re lucky enough to get a spot and display your work. Meeting new people and talking about your work with them is way more gratifying than getting likes based off some ridiculous algorithm on an app filled with bots. Getting back to being human is what counts. I even did a little display table at a coffee shop for a few hours, and the conversations were a constant. Plus it smelled good in there. So any and all places where you can get a chance to display your work is so much more satisfying than the apps out there.
Seems like a really good idea!
Is there anything that Flickr is really lacking besides an active community? Because I don't see what good it would do to reinvent the wheel in terms of functionality, when what you actually need is the community. Instagram is the best example for that, as it has (had?) the community, but is actually full of anti-features for photographers: favors certain aspect ratios, stores tiny images with no way to enlarge them, makes it intentionally difficult to upload things from a desktop PC... it's ridiculous that it got as popular as it did for photographers, in my opinion.
Flickr, on the other hand, has many great features for photographers. What's stopping people from using it more? Isn't saying "I don't use it because it's dead" kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy indeed, and it's funny that you mostly hear it from people, who are not in there.
I'm in a couple of groups which are pretty active. Some are not. But as long as people are just making that statement, shrugging their shoulders, not willing to check it out and try to change it, while complaining about there not being any great photography options, we won't really get there we would like to get.
Flickr would make a great case-study in how a thriving community gets alienated (twice) and then neglected. All the basic technical features are there and are fairly solid but Flickr pissed off people who _made_ the community and then somewhat abandoned anybody who remained active. There were 3 infractions: 1) When Yahoo bought it, they decided to force everyone to have a Yahoo login. 2) Without input from the community Flickr decided that there was no distinction between Pro accounts and free accounts (which pissed off the pros) ... then later took back that change and limited free accounts (which pissed off the non-pros). 3) Lastly, they let the site stagnate for almost a decade without updating the interface, aggressively _avoided_ making it mobile-friendly and utterly washed their hands of any community management (or even adding more moderation roles, tools and accountability). The result was unfriendly to pros and casual users alike. Flickr users felt unheard and unserved and so drifted elsewhere, pro users to 500px.com, etc. and mobile amateurs to Instagram, Tumblr, etc.
"t's ridiculous that it got as popular as it did for photographers"
Thank you! I've been thinking that since it first came out. The success of Instagram has always baffled me. As a way to keep in touch with people, it felt like a subpar FB, and as a way to display your art it felt like a subpar Flickr or 500px. To this day I'm still not sure what made people love it. I certainly never did.
I use flickr more compared to 500px and Instagram. I think that flickr is still - albeit haveing a lot of shortcomings - the best photography focused site. Especially the Instagram algorithm that favors specific images (e.g. such using the 4 by 5 format) is not really photography fiendly.
After watching this, you've made me look back into Flickr again 😅
Same here.
Me too :)
I guess this depends on why people make photographs? For money or for fun. I used to do it for money many years ago. Now it's just for the love of creating, I also paint. This need to share and get likes and such like is quite a new concept. We didn't feel the need when we shot film with no internet. Photography was like a quiet contentment where only dedicated photographers really bothered to do it. The grim truth is the internet is saturated with images because it's way easier and cheaper to produce them now .No one really cares about others peoples photography. Shoot what makes you happy not what you think will make others like you. If however you're trying to be a pro photographer..god help you. Being a social media whore seems to be the way to go. The reality of the industry does not match the lifestyle the internet leads you to believe.
@Damian Wójcikiewicz is all garbage and kids
Flickr is still my favorite and I'm enjoying finding and following other Flickr users in the comments. There are some really good photographers around here.
This is a pretty sad time for any photographers who'd like to share their work not only with fellow photographers but with interested "civilians" too. This is what made IG amazing. On Flickr, 500px, YouPic, etc you'll only get views for other photographers. On IG you could land jobs or get feedback (via comments and likes) for anyone. Maybe a photo would be well received by 100 photographers because everything is perfectly in focus and balanced, good composition, nice coloring, shot with some fancy gear and using 20 lights with crazy modifiers but "real" people would hate it because it has nothing interesting behind the technical perfection.
I don't wanna shoot for other photographers, I'd like to shoot for regular people. But sites that target photographers will never give me that. A true social media platform that targets the masses could but I doubt anything other that instagram will come soon 😕
Agreed. Instagram have so much more type of people. I'm not a photographer. I do arts, design and stuff. Seeing Instagram change is hard, suddenly people have to focus on video creation too, no matter what your profession is, to grow on Instagram.
Exactly! I’m in plenty of photographer groups where we share stuff and talk technical. But really I want the interaction with people that aren’t photographers. Instagram is still the only one that really does that
Exactly. As a printmaker and photographic artist, I don't think I would want to join any "photography community" and just share with other photographers. What I enjoy is an audience for the artistic expression regardless of how the art is made.
Recently IG has been plagued with tons of Bots. It kills the legitimate comments.
This is a clever analysis. Instagram is crap for photography! It is a e-commerce platform or a social network for egocentric people. The fact you can not enlarge the photo does not do good to photography. 500px is nice but full of over photoshoped pictures and nudity. At the end of the day flickr remains the best but I agree it would need an update!
I agree too many wannabe models on Instagram
@@elysium76 lol
Instagram is where I discovered many wildlife photographers and I eventually started with macro. And I agree it isn't great now for beginners.
VSCO: minimal layout, no 3rd party ads, chronological feed, clean web interface, no visible likes / views, tracked reposts, great inbuilt editor.
Also: absolutely flooded with zoomers and people who want to play the "basic bitch" Instagram game but think they're too good for IG
@@fakename287 be the change you want to see in the social media platform.
Agree
Can't even find that platform when I google it. How many users does it have? 3?
Why Instagram has become the most popular photo sharing app is beyond my understanding. Even with the lack of further development, Flickr is still immeasurably better for serious photographers (as opposed to selfie taking girls).
I think Flickr is really good actually.
I think there are 2 main problems.
1. What are you willing to pay? It is the plague of all social media platforms. Users expect to pay $0 but they have to make a profit. Make it more addictive and keep showing ads, never mind quality.
2. You said it yourself, video is more appealing than photos to most people. I don't think this is an IG problem, it is a change in behavior and expectations. Just like text posts (FB) were replaced by pictures (IG), pictures are now replaced by video.
Just some thoughts...
instagram never was the social network for photographers. The aim of instagram is the same of FB and Google: ads. Photographers for a while where in the sweet spot: they sell an image, a fantasy, a vision, a product, a tool etc. Non-photographers were the audience. The perfect market that crumbled under the short videos zeitgeist.
The best we've got after Insta is VSCO but The problem I find with it is absolutely filled up with Sadboi/girl vibes which takes over the feed and it's social interactions is pretty much nonexistent.
500px COULD be good if it was less about competition (same as EYEEM), and make it simply about photography but it falls into the same Boob Trap as Flickr and to properly interact with it you must pay for it, which i find annoying. Basic features shouldn't be behind a paywall.
Twitter is not a Photosharing app but we are forcing it at the moment (me included)
Facebook is great for the community but useless for actual conversations because everyone has these dumb ideas and ideals about what photography should be - and everyone thinks "Photography shouldn't be political" when all arts are inherently Polticals depending on what you do.
Tumblr... we don't talk about that anymore
Pinterest is good way to get your work across that internetsphere, but useless beyond that.
Behance, useless
The Dots & Linkedin different tools of the same useless side.
DeviantART, lost it's charm years ago.
Have I missed anything?!
Instagram what the best thing we've been offered as it was straightforward and no bullshit
But from the day it was bought out by Facebook it was as a slow downward ebb and flow.
I really like Flickr very much..
However I’m not a professional photographer..
I’ve made lots of friends and love looking at all the photos on there…
Flickr is NOT dead. Best place to post and to see great photos from others.
I think the root cause/issue is that the appeal of good/great photography is in decline and has been for a while, the big attractions are short video clips, that's where advertising sells so that's where the money and development is
Flickr is not dead!
The thing is I dont just want to show my images to other Photographers, I want to show it to other normal people who are not photographers themself.
The thing is photographers, especially older ones have to, need to change with the times and practices. Continue to create great stunning pictures, images and prints(I can see some validity to the arguments about prints are more appreciated than digital copies). What has to change for the modern crop of people is the display. I think I was talking about it not too long ago with my dad; we hardly ever open up an actual photo album book and look at those old pictures. We take, store , distribute and display most pictures now through digital mediums.
As a person that photographs and edits beautiful women and their parts then share those photos on Instagram or something photographers need to up their marketing and promotion game. Most people aren't coming to look in a dusty photo album that's been sitting around your home for eons. Create online accounts and learn how to better promote your pages and profiles to get more exposure. No more just throwing your 20MP photo randomly out there on cyber space and expecting immediate return(likes, comments, maybe even click-throughs and sales if you're set up right). We all have to learn how to use the modern tools and use them well.
Communicating the difference between you with your 24MP camera and a kid with a cellphone maybe taking good 20 MP shots will be how fast you deliver your cameras shots with the touch ups and distribution. Whether its print distribution or online distribution(spend the extra time to watermark so you can get compensated) The old techniques have to come up to modern day distribution standards.
I feel for you, so sincere. I used Flickr in 2005 and yes it was a fantastic experience. As the popularity of digital cameras exploded the quality on Flickr went down. Many including myself saw 500px and Google+ as a place not necessarily for better photographers but let's say for more committed photographers. I look back on those times with fond nostalgia. I personally think that this is symptomatic of photography's overall health. Has it been beneficial for photography to now have 3.5 billion cameras in mobile phones.. Has the ubiquitous phone taken over a once skilled process? Now turning photography into post-processing, spray and pray competition? Geez, If you take a thousand pictures a 2-year-old will get a good one. I do think there are talented photographers that stand above but in my opinion, they fall into the photojournalistic and portrait realm... Yes, I was blown away the first time I saw well-done images of Iceland or some of the other iconic locations .... but honestly, they've become a dime a dozen. Attempting to summarize I believe it is not the websites that have changed but photography overall. Thanks for your thoughtful post
All it takes to understand what's happening to photography is to watch a couple of episodes of Antiques Roadshow on PBS. Rarity breeds interest and interest breeds value. Flood the human experience with 20,000,000 iPhone photos a day, plaster the, all over social media and the Internet and you have concocted a prescription for disaster. Add to this the human penchant for fascination with technology and you wind up with techno freaks banging out endless cliches with their "latest" "greatest" techno toy. My eyes grow weary just thinking about all this...who can blame the average person for taking photography for granted and losing the ability to actually see and react to quality images.
They should keep all those Plebs out of it and let people like yourself make some money.
Compositions and colour theory is something people won't magically learn or have an eye for it, even if they all have a phone camera (somehow with a 100 megapixels 🤔)
@@danlightened If the "photographer" is an influencer and as a lot of followers, they can rack up fake praise regardless of being completely incompetent. There are plenty of those out there.
@@helinophoto Yeah, sadly.
Why post anywhere? The photographers that we most seem to look at as inspiring existed well before anything digital, back in the day when we sought out books and print. There’s absolutely nothing better than print. Why not photograph for your own sake and not rely on the feedback of others? Build a website, share only there. For myself, I don’t need or want feedback. I merely do it for the pleasure of it all. I find it keeps me much more creative and I only shoot for myself. Just some thoughts about taking things back to a more pure level. Digital sharing to photography has become what IKEA is to cheap furniture; everywhere and easily replaced.
This is exactly what I have done. It's been great.
Absolutely true. I find myself chasing likes for no good reason.
thank you and you are absolutely spot on with your comment.
yeah i agree with this man to some extent but I would also like a digital solution based on the tools we have in this era. The only place i really upload my photos now is on dedicated photo groups for things like funghi, or butterflies, where you have mutual appreciation, you get a lot of comments on photos and a lot of conversation, particularly on the butterfly ones, and everyone is pretty much on the same page.....but you also suffer with the compression of your files and the bull shit that is the facebook algorithm
I agree and I am too working on a new website for my photos and only the very best😉
As a software engineer, I find this problem fascinating. I'd be willing to build something. Why is Flickr dead? What needs aren't being met?
Seems like community just moved on to Instagram
Built one in 2013, had 10k users constantly and users were trimmed down every year for resources purposes... When Instagram took off it killed all my traffic.. People don't want critics.. people want fans and worships. I've closed it in 2019. There was too much toxicity on the site and a lot of comunity fatigue...
I left Instagram this week and I tried 500px. I do pop culture action figure photography which is assisted by Photoshop and the 500px algorithm just kept flagging my images for various reasons and it became untenable within the first 24 hours. I was getting flagged for images featuring popular movie character figures where it thought they were real people who's permission might be needed for me to use their likeness. Also even though the app could see my image data and what camera I used it was constantly claiming I had uploaded movie or game screenshots. I did wonder why there was so little pop culture stuff on there and now I guess I know why.
I returned to my old Flickr account, dusted it off and started posting my stuff there again until something better comes along.
I totally agree about Instagram, as I still have an Flickr account, and also Photo Tumblr as well, But when I started Instagram in 2021 I was HAPPY, and now I am PISSED that when I submit a photo that it is taking LONGER I Mean LONGER THAN AVERAGE 3 To 4 Minute Commercial on Body Odor Lume. And when the photo is done that in what I am seeing on the screen is not my photo but a BLACK SQUARE IMAGE, as I have complaint, and asked other shooters if they are seeing this as some of them HAVE QUIT Instagram. So were screw, as these Iphone People have the control to place crap while we Serious Shooter that still shoot Film, and Digital cannot be heard or Seen.
Oh Yes Good video that it seems that your Drone flying that in Photography's Term that it seems that Photography in General with Serious shooters that would like to continued in showing there work in reality that the is heading up to Camera Heaven.
I already read that Twitter might be a good option for some nowadays. Maybe photographers don't just want to share their work with other photographers, but to a broather community. For that Instagram was good actually.
Society: Someday robots may take over.
500px users: They already have.
I feel instagram has become toxic and egoist in nature, people all of a sudden stopped commenting on photos, the warmth is missing, the race to long like a model has taken over fine photography.
I'm eagerly waiting the day IG will fall in misery and be forgotten forever. It happened with FB, which was the biggest thing ever for years and now is just a place for older people posting cats and flowers. It will happen for IG too, I'm sure.
Zuck the zucking Zuck.
Istacrap is garbage. And it is from ZUCK.
That is some solid truth there. My FB account has been sitting dormant for half a year now. I log in every few weeks to see if there are any messages waiting but other than that, I have turned my back on it. And also because there are too many idiots on there who post things that makes me lose brain cells just from looking at it. You probably know what sort of people I am talking about. I am so over that stuff. If I want to see people engaging in shouting matches, I might as well watch TV or just sit on a bench in the downtown area.
Instagram is horrible and I rarely use it! The social media site seems more interested in 'social sharing' on cell phones than catering to photographers. It isn't friendly to use for those who process work on a computer. It takes a separate program just to upload pictures. You are right, there just isn't much out there anymore for photographers anymore, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Are all you commenters who support Flickr paying the pro membership fees? I can’t upload anything more with my free account. So I don’t feel like I can participate anymore.
I totally agree with you, Instagram is no longer a photo sharing app I hardly post on there any more as it does not go anywhere. They are focusing so much on video and reels now that photo's do not get seen and if they do they are simply ignored over the addictive reality of short videos.
Social Media has a lot to answer for, it gave people a platform to show off cliched images that are at best mediocre and talk BS. These days everyone believes they are an expert and the markets are flooded with cliched material that belongs on a biscuit box, often heavily manipulated. SM is pretty much a mutual admiration society for wannabees.
Photography, with its proper meaning, merely rode the wave generated by the masses sharing/seeing pictures on IG as a means to interact and satisfy their social voyeurism. Then that shifted to video, and our ride is not so enjoyable anymore. The challenge for a newcomer site/app is, how to construct a space (I.e. an app) well-attended enough that it will attract photogs *and* viewers, for the purpose of photography. I am not optimistic that it’s possible in today’s culture, dominated by short attention span and stream of distractions. What could be nice if IG came up with a system of sub-genres, where participants of a “photography channel” would not be subject to the “algorithm” that is now so biased against photography. I’d pay for that.
Apps and Platforms....it's all about the community. If the community chooses Flickr again, this platform will get strength and be again the nicest place for photographers. Our job is to spread the message. The community rules, not the platform.
Nicely put about the the three main photo sites...I agree.
I am only an amateur photographer who has been there and done all of these sites over the years, but now I only do photography for me which is far more satisfying than having to live up to other peoples expectations of what you should do. Great videos with informative and interesting topics...nice work.
I still us flickr and get a lot of views and comments. I dont think its a ghost town, But I agree its very aged and really needs to revamp
what about Deviant Art? I used to use that before Flickr and Instagram
I'm particularly angry of Instagram.
1) mobile only uploads. WHAT THE FUCK? They've gone an extra mile to exclude desktop devices for absolutely no sane reason. (is this BS still around?)
2) forced 4:5. My sensor is 3:2 so I shoot and compose 3:2 and anyone trying to force me to change it can fuck off.
I like 500px because I get pretty objective (independent) feedback from the likes. But as a photo storage and showcase platform it sucks.
Flickr. Not sure why but I chose not to use it, but it was close to my requirements.
The other thing with Instagram is the actual people. They follow you just to unfollow you so they’re follower count goes up they are not interested in your work. Everyone wants the success and support but don’t show support in return.
I personally disagree with your assessment of Flickr. 😁
I'm on there a lot, many people are on there, and we frequently comment on each other's photos.
That is also my opinion. I have no idea what is claimed to be broken or technically failing on Flickr.
But it's still nothing like it used to be like 15 years ago. Most of the groups I used to post in, hardly have any discussions/debate anymore. People only post images in the group photo pool. But obviously I'm not everywhere on Flickr so I might miss out on something.
@@KlausSN OK, you're right that Groups don't really work well on Flickr.
It's far too easy to just add your photo to 20 groups without actually having any connection with the group -- I do the same too.
There are some groups however that actually actively make their members participate.
@@henkterhell1505 Flickr has seen some updates over the past year; it is true however that some parts of the site look really old compared to others.
Those are not parts that I often visit however so in most normal usage, it doesn't bother me.
Flickr has a couple of community-managers who drive things like monthly Explore-takeovers around a theme, themed galleries, the interviews, etc.
I also wouldn't say the site is just a money-machine. I think that they're "just getting by". Perhaps still running at a loss.
Edit: Oh, and Flickr does also have a problem with bots used on the site by some.
Flickr has started CENSORSHIP on comments regarding sodomy "pride".
Why don't the top photographers get together and built a photography site? Share the costs among the users. Keep it ad free. Instead of waiting and hoping some company will do the right thing for photographers.
Oh no god u say this after the top br gamers are making their own br
Exactly
I used to like Flickr but it seemed to break and take forever to upload photos, didn’t really like 500px now I just have a Facebook page but find that hard to navigate sometimes every time I try to do something it changes. I am just a hobbyist not trying to build a business tho
It used to be a place where you could share, learn, and develop as a photographer. Now it's a place for cliques and people protecting their self-annointed status as the best photographers on Flickr.
Behance is a good 500px and Flickr alternative.. it looks good and easy to use!
Excellent video. I agree with everything that you said. I used to love Flickr. However, one of my accounts was apparently deleted without any warning or explanation. So I will probably abandon this platform. If you find any great website for photo sharing, please tell me. I have thousands of good pictures that I would like to share with the world.
Hej Micael!
Är det möjligt att internet sakta går mot sitt slut? Många har lagt upp egna bilder eller skapat bloggar med mycket jobb. Du investerar din energi och ändå är du långt ifrån att få ut något av det.
Det är samma sak med mig. Jag känner folk som bloggade fram till slutet av 2020/2021. Jag skapar själv interaktiva panoraman, men de märks knappt - och någon gång tappar man all motivation.
Det är svårt att sticka ut och få en publik på internet. Men det går om man kämpar för det. Jag försörjer mig nu på min youtube-kanal, men det tog 6 år att bygga upp det.
Thank you for the video ^^ Actually myself super unsure of which site to go for to use as my portfolio show-off place... so far thinking of sticking with Instagram only as I've been used to that one the most
Tumblr is a really nice platform. You can author either via web or app, presentation is clean, photos are shown at a good size, the text layout works for either short or long articles, and it has 30 million active users. The only problem is that nobody interacts with anybody else's posts, ever! It's like a ghost town where none of the ghosts can see each other. This goes to show that good software design and a big user base aren't enough if you're looking for a public showcase rather than a private diary. But if it gets TOO public, it turns into Instagram…
I left flickr like 9 years ago, erased all my travel photos and collections from there. Just don't feel confortable anymore that groups and communities where practically dead and that time, and the site itself were just a repository of free to use photos that anyone can download and steal to use at blogs and sites all over the internet. I'm surprised that there are still people uploading to flickr this days, and totally agree with you that there's not a site when you can just share and meet other like minded photographers to talk about techniques and photography art, like how was flickr back in the days. Nice vid, cheers !
I hung up my camera up years ago, it's over.
I've been finding a way to share my pictures and get actual good comments on it. I'm desperate to improve my skills, I've found photography TH-cam now and it's been helping me a lot, so I got that part covered. I'm just really anxious to share my pictures with the world in a more efficient way. The pics I take ellicit strong emotions from me so I just want other people to feel the same way I do when I look at my work. It's pretty frustrating I can't find a platform where I can properly do this.
I feel the same way… I thought Twitter was the answer but it doesn’t have a good layout for photos as instagram does, so I haven’t been using it as much I as I thought I would.
Same!
Twitter is used to link Pro photography web pages. That's it's benefit for some people's mindset.
And IG is set up for mobile screens.
Now some photographers are moving to twitter, and I have also tried it but it does not seem adequate to interact, it is very confused by retweets, comments from other people that you are not interested in, etc. Twitter is not intended for photography and it is obvious. We need something like Insta where quality comes first, not nonsense or bikini-clad girls posing.
@@narcismacau I've grown to actually enjoy Twitter. Turning off retweets is a click or tap of your finger. Makes a big improvement lol.
I agree, twitter is definitely not a good place to grow it was not designed for photographers.
i just googled "photography is dead" and this video came up. I've lost my joy for photography. The world is just not normal anymore. There is no point to photgraphing the death of the world.
Your wrong don’t give up maybe you didn’t truly love it & that’s okay
Problem most image sites use compression, so there is only google photo space with setting compression off 15gb space max. Flickr do not compress but 1000 images max. or Amazon prime unlimited uncompressed space. Amazon I did not test till now but you need prime. I think Apple do compress, Instagram we do not talk about for serious image uploading or
Flickr is FAR from dead. Best platform there is!
Might join
EyeEm is probably the only option that’s similar to flicker and still has people contributing and being kept up by the company/site owners
Sadly, there's still no viable alternative.
1. Flickr isn't worth paying for. It's a ghost town.
2. Instagram is not for photographers anymore.
3. 500px is just very shallow, gorgeous, but shallow.
3. 500px is just very shallow, gorgeous, but shallow. > What do you mean by that? I agree with this video that the most interesting images on 500px are the editor's picks.
@@hans1187 So instagram is at least a combination of what is going on in people’s lives, plus the work people want to display.
500px is like a big curated list of the best images out there, but I can’t connect emotionally with them. As if someone made a photo just because they could as opposed because they had something to say.
@@arielrglaze I get the impression that Social Media in general is pretty shallow. Looking at the comments on a typical IG post, I don't really see anything that makes me understand the world better.
Good analysis, I concur with you
Flickr is PRIME. been on there for years, seems perfect to me. Lots of friends on there.
I hate instagram too for the horrible aspect ratio and forced portrait vs landscape …
"Technically it doesn't require a lot".....hehehe goood one!:) I am actually a programmer and it REALLY requires a LOT! It is not just a website, you have to built whole infrastructure around it! Not just a layout and interface as you think! Ideas, development, storage, marketing and so on....the list is long!
I cofounded and built the technical platform of a major e-commerce marketplace with 50 million euro in revenue so I know what’s involved. I meant that compared to many other tech companies, an image sharing platform can be pretty simple to build.
I feel like what we really need is a place that has some of the community aspects of social media but step it up with real professional services. We should be able to interact with not just other photographers but, models, clients, agencies, B to B services and so much more. In return all the people who do those things would be there pushing from their direction. The problem is, people under 35 don't even know what "professional" is anymore and as a consequence they actually work against all things that could even start to look that way. That is exactly why things are the way they are right now. We haven't had a new suite of tools online for probably a decade, and it shows.
I think we need a PAY per POST situation (less posts = higher quality). This way, people ONLY post their best or not at all. It would pay for the site, so photographers wouldn't have to worry about some High-on-denture-glue TOS or EULA.. Make it actually searchable within google, and connect or partner with agencies that get work from publishers.
Not sure if anybody mentioned this, but Reddit is sort of active on the photography groups. I feel like somebody needs to create one that trumps them all though. Sometimes you can get a lot of likes and other days not so many.
Thank you for posting this. Idk why my comments don't show up but I was trying to write this. R/macroporn, despite the stupid name, is a great place that I think just needs better mods that actually do what this video is describing, which is form a real community around macro photography.
@@midman101 I’ll check it out. I’m in a lot of photography groups on there. I feel like some days they’re good, and other days they’re not so good. And then when people ask for critique and you give honest critique, everyone just bashes on you for being honest.
Addicted is the right word indeed.
I'm getting into Vero quite a bit. So far I really like it. Great for sharing pics.
I know this is an old post Micael, but I complete agree with all of this. I post stuff at Talk Photography, but that requires a flickr account as there are so few image hosting sites that allow you to embed images as BB code on other sites.
There is a massive gap in the market for a platform for photographers to post and receive critique and feedback. If something came out that met these needs, I would sign up tomorrow.
Flickr is by far not dead. Flickr has different issues. Too many groups which are not actively managed any more and so many groups with the same topic. Just type in "Macro" in the group search. Then the issue of people not really caring about the groups they are in. No more discussions, groups are mainly used as photo dumps. More groups, more attention, more likes.
One thing I have to agree on: Flickr doesn't develop it's platform, or at least, not quickly enough and not with significant impact.
I would be unhappy to see Flickr go, if their business model won't work, but I would love to see them improve.
I've recently decided to take photography from casual to a more serious interest. I was looking for a place to post some of my images and this video was both helpful and a little depressing at the same time. Perhaps I missed the photography heyday but oh well, I'm not in it for any money.
I agree with you about these photography sites.
I was a pro member of Flickr for almost twenty years, (since 2004). I have never had problems with Flickr and always followed the regulations by producing safe images for friends and member of the public to view and enjoy. During this extensive membership period I created over 50,000 ‘safe’ images. However, on 12 June 2023 the Flickr support people, (Jenny, and Olivia - are these real humans or AI?) took a decision to delete my entire account of images without giving me any specific reasons for their decision or prior warning. I sent emails to the help desk to find out what violations in my safe images had been discovered. Both wrote me that “They are not at liberty to discuss the specifics of accounts closed for violations”, which makes it impossible for me to understand the cause of this deletion and the closing down of my account. Also On 18th May 2023, I paid £111.84, for a further 2 years subscription in Flickr. In the second email from the help desk, Olivia wrote to me that “Per our Terms of Use that you read and agreed to, Flickr does not provide refunds or partial refunds for unused subscription time should you close your account prematurely, or should your actions cause Flickr to terminate your account.”; but as far as I remember Flickr took £111.84 from my bank account automatically without any reminder about that clause agreement. www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4716448
Many more people need to read this. Thank you so much for sharing this incredibly infuriating story!!
I've had experienced same kind response in different field. It seems the best solution is to self host and then post your creation links to photo communities on social media. Perhaps there's open source alternatives. I haven't researched that. That would be another solution.
I needed to hear this from someone. Great video.
The core values disappear as the communities grow and degrade in quality.
Do you remember that at some point you could dislike photos on 500px?
Let's reintroduce that feature to sort out bad content.
Cheers from Denmark 🇩🇰📸
I never liked Flickr and its groups especially. Recently I made an unpopular move and reanimated my Tumblr account I've created years ago and never used. Tumblr is not as active now as it once was but still on an edgier and darker side of any art form what I really like. Still having an Instagram account though.
For photo sharing, I found that the best place for me is to upload my images to stock photo sites. Sure there's no real community there but the feedback that I get is by way of money. For being part of a community, I still find that Instagram is the place to be. I don't upload too many images but it allows me to communicate with other like minded people.
I joined Flickr in 2007 and I know exactly how you feel. There are many days that I get thousands of views. How will those people find my photos when I leave Flickr?
Instagram has been dead for photography at least 3 years. I use Twitter nowadays which has its own challenges and dedicated small Facebook groups.
I'd love to see, like you, a photography platform that works for everybody. Anybody any other suggestions than Twitter or Flickr
Man, this video spoke to me. I’ve all but given up on Instagram… never could get any traction on it. Very little engagement. I tried 500px and didn’t care for it. I just trudge along on Flickr I’ve had more success with it than Instagram, but still can’t seem to break through to the next level. Even though I like Flickr, I’d drop it like a bad habit if something better came along.
I agree with you. I used Flickr and as soon as I entered and searched for some communities, I saw that the last comments were from 7, 8 years ago, it really gave me the impression of a completely forgotten platform. I liked 500px more, but due to the lack of tools and possibilities I didn't persist. I thought about creating an Instagram focused on photography, but I really don't know if it's worth it. Researching the other day I saw that the platform intends to give a greater focus on photography in the future, perhaps a highlight, greater reach to those who produce this type of content. It would be great if the platform focused more on this.
If you can't have, what you like, like what you have. I disagree with you that Flicker is a ghost town. It is active photo site, where photographers upload pictures, videos, comment on other peoples pictures and so on. It seems that you have unrealistic expectations, but Flicker is not dead.
I’m curious if the comments about flickr being “abandoned’ are pre-smugmug or post smugmug.
Any thoughts on DeviantArt?
I agree totally. Two years later and still nothing. The sites are clunky and don't allow you to add directly to a folder without adding to an unnecessary stream firstly, when using the apps
Popping in in 2024, seriously considering going back to Flickr now
If everyone goes back to Flickr, it will have a large, active community.
Word! I feel the same about not having a dedicated platform anymore where photography can be valued, where you can grow.