Flickr fans may want to give this post a wide berth, although what I am bitching about isn’t exactly the fault of the good folk at Flickr, well I don’t think it is.
I can recall a day when I used to love to join in discussions in Flickr groups. They were helpful, informative, funny, controversial and a pleasure to be a part of. The last 12 months have seen things slide like a eel on a Teflon slippery dip. I don’t know if it is the groups I had joined, or all groups are suffering from the same general decline in the social aspect. In the past 3 weeks I have left 4 groups that I had been a member for for nearly the whole time I have been a part of the extended Flickr family. These groups were once like immediate family. You knew the other members well. You even socialised with them.
The reason I left each group was the same. It was less like a group of friends with a shared passion, and more like a bunch of teenage boys for ever trying to prove who had the biggest dick, which is terrific if you are an angsty acne sufferer with a backwards baseball cap, but less fun than a prostrate exam (this is supposition on my behalf, my back door has not yet seen a doctors gloved finger approaching) for a 40 plus cranky bastard like myself. I miss the chit chat, the sharing of links to interesting photographic gold nuggets. I miss the willingness to share advice, experiences and equipment. I miss the friendly banter.
What has happened? I was going to point the finger at all the different types of Flickr user that piss me off, but I can’t see that doing anyone any good at all. Me sitting here whinging and ranting will no more fix things than if I could clone a pig to an eagle and finally stop people telling me I will take a great photo when pigs fly.
So, I ask you, dear visitor, is it just me? Have you found similar happenings on your travels around Flickr groups?
I’m off to find an eagle!
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My thoughts on photography and the people who take photos.
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We're all in this alone. -- Lily Tomlin
Well people are very rude on the internet, but it’s also a pretty general phenomenon with a couple aspects:
First:
When you are newer to a group, you may be more active. Then over time, you have just done it already and you participate less and other people come to fill the void and since they do it differently, they seem like jerks. Communities can police themselves, but only if the “good guys (and gals)” take action and maintain a high level of activity.
Second:
Also, when online communities grow or evolve, the “old guard” often lament the same rudeness that they themselves once displayed. Only when it was done in toe old days it was called “irreverence” and celebrated. I see this a lot of photophlow. When your friends make a crass comment, it’s funny. When the new guy makes the same comment, it’s considered rude and aggressive. It’s just the nature of relationships
So yeah there are some jerks out there, but the way you mitigate them is to roll with it and outshine them with your own patience and good behavior.
Bottom line, norbs: I think yer just gettin’ old.
Nope, it’s not just you…
I had a pro account on Flickr for a long time. I very much enjoyed all of the aspects you mentioned about being part of various groups on the site. Photo-walks with other Flickr members, lots of help and suggestions and feedback and encouragement shared.
But in the last two years, I too noticed a very perceptible decline in the camaraderie and productive commentary. This was not true of the many very lovely Flickr members I’d initially gotten to know through the site, but very true of the newer people who often seemed to be commenting with no genuine sense of community.
And with this, many of the ‘old guard’ seemed to withdraw from the very same groups they’d originated.
I no longer found that the experience of sharing my work on Flickr was in a positive, constructive forum and so I haven’t renewed my pro account for some time.
I’m hearin’ ya Norbs. I’m dumping groups left, right and centre but I am active in a private group that, so far, has been able to hold onto the original flickr values of helping each other and being generous with knowledge. I’ll send you a flickr mail with an invite link. You already know a few people in there.
I have seen many young and some talented photographers who are keen turn from funloving and great to deal with into “semi Pros” . The first noticable change is adding the word “photographer” to their flickr name. So (by way of example) “Sandy Bottom” suddenly becomes “Sandy Bottom Photography” and they start talking about shooting my first wedding this weekend and what lens should I use!!! it’s a worry! Few on flickr will give honest criticism so all the airy fairy “Wow’s” and “Great shot’s” give some a false sense of security and (dare I say it ) ability!!!
One group I was fairly active in (Australian Female Photographers) was a fun spot to be. Meets once every few months, usually in Sydney, but worth the 400km round trip and every friday night there would be a really active discussions……..and it suddenly died. One friday night was a public holiday and snap, the magic was gone. Most of those people have moved over to facebook and contact continues, but not as it was. Facebook is more a venue for promoting theose photogrpahy businesses with fan pages and links to blogs.
So Norbs, whist you are getting old……dunno about grumpy…….. you are not alone in your loss of love of flickr.
I do maintain my pro account for without it I have no way of finding my shots on the HDD!! And without flickr I would not have met so many genuinely talented and sharing togs.
[...] to them? Well, I got lazy, that is what happened. That and my general loss of interest in the whole Flickr experience over the past 12 months or so. But, there have been a few things that keep me coming back. I have [...]
Everytime I log onto flickr I have to resist the urge to strangle some dickhead with a smartarse passive aggressive comment to a inoffensive question.Internet heroes.