# Urgent - updates to flickr and new account limits!



## Overread (Nov 2, 2018)

Let’s be candid.


Flickr are updating their terms and conditions and its not all good news. 

Free accounts are going to be limited to 1000 photos only, now here is the kicker:


> *Free members with more than 1,000 photos or videos uploaded to Flickr have until Tuesday, January 8, 2019, to upgrade to Pro or download content over the limit. After January 8, 2019, members over the limit will no longer be able to upload new photos to Flickr. After February 5, 2019, free accounts that contain over 1,000 photos or videos will have content actively deleted -- starting from oldest to newest date uploaded -- to meet the new limit.



So unlike in the past where they would just restrict access it seems that they are using this to have a huge clean house approach to accounts. Granted there probably are a lot of defunct accounts that don't do anything on flickr, but it basically is forcing any active user to upgrade to pro accounts. The new pro features are mostly "so so" in features - general enhancements plus video jumps up to 10mins - however anyone serious on video likely uses other services anyway. 

Instead its more a case of a stick instead of a carrot as if you fail to update byebye photos. Now granted that just means losing them on flickr (I hope you' keep things local) however it will break any website that heavily uses flickr as its image host.


Personally I don't know about this one, I might have to just be forced to pro upgrade and then possibly hunt around for another service. Change like this are a huge pain, esp since flickr has always been generally safe and good for photographers in terms of the service that they offer and the attitude they have toward rights. I'll also say that whilst I don't like this I can see their point of view and also respect that its nothing like the disaster that Photobucket tried a year or two back.


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## acparsons (Nov 2, 2018)

I found a easy way to get the photos. Create new album, put all photos there, and then download the album.


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## Fujidave (Nov 2, 2018)

I deleted a lot of my old Canon 70D images from my Free account so now have 299 images, but I will get the Pro account some time.  Reason being I have photography equipment over the £3,000 so another $50 or £40 odd won`t hurt.


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## Overread (Nov 2, 2018)

Funny thing is years ago I had the old pro account without any issues. I kind of wish they'd made the pro "more" interesting rather than make the free less interesting - though having just checked (went into organise which shows how many photos you've uploaded) I'm at 1300 odd photos - I really need  to take more photos!


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## snowbear (Nov 2, 2018)

I just went through the camera roll, highlighted each year’s photos and downloaded so I’d have a good copy.  Then I went through and cleared a bunch so I’m at around 900.


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## markjwyatt (Nov 2, 2018)

Not too surpirised. When they merged with Smugmug, it was writing on the wall. If they make it more flexible (or I learn how to use it better more likely), I may go Pro.


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## Derrel (Nov 2, 2018)

I'm glad I have 10,000 photos _elsewhere_.


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## Overread (Nov 3, 2018)

I don't see it a writing on the wall so much as them doing what several other big image hosts have done which is to clear house on old accounts that are either defunct or massively full of free use. 1TB is a lot of data not accounting for all those who account hop to get multiple free accounts. 

I can see justification from them, not forgetting that in the past many signed up to flickr pro without issue and then they went through a phase where pro was basically worthless and they encouraged everyone to go free (which even at the time most people considered very odd). I guess their original plan was to make up for it with adverts, however I honestly saw so few appear on flickr I wonder if it was such a soft approach that it failed to generate enough revenue hence the desire from them to go back to a culture where everyone is signed up for pro (or at least the majority of major users). 

I think my main issue is their attitude and approach toward deleting data and only having a 1 month window between the limit being imposed and the deletion starting - I'd have preferred a longer window of the old system of just blocking access/display of those photos.


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## petrochemist (Nov 3, 2018)

Overread said:


> I think my main issue is their attitude and approach toward deleting data and only having a 1 month window between the limit being imposed and the deletion starting - I'd have preferred a longer window of the old system of just blocking access/display of those photos.



It may be a month after the limit is imposed but it's three months after its been announced.

I would have liked to see a slight increase in the limit for long term members. Something on the lines of 100 more shots every year after the first 5. This will be low enough to prevent useless dumping of images yet free members who have been supporting their community for years don't find they have to remove old favorites, to keep active.

The 1TB limit always seem completely daft to me  Even with 1200 images shared I wasn't even seeing 1% usage of that.


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## SquarePeg (Nov 3, 2018)

After reading about this, I was originally going to cut back on my use and just keep free status but, the more I think about it, with the recent Prime price hike, the more I’m leaning toward the Pro option and uploading all my back ups from Prime.  $50 year is pretty cheap for unlimited high res storage and hosting plus I enjoy the Flickr groups and community. 

I currently have 2 additional Flickr accounts.  One that I use only for family photos and one for sharing photos from the few shoots I do for groups.   I would need to consolidate and have to figure out how to give limited access for the family and group stuff.


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## Peeb (Nov 3, 2018)

I went Pro last May (don't even recall why now) and I plan to keep with it.  I don't mind paying a little overhead for the smug mug guys- they bought a service I really enjoy.


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## snowbear (Nov 3, 2018)

I’ll probably go pro later, once some other obligations are taken care of.  For now, I just opened a new free Flickr.


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## markjwyatt (Nov 3, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> After reading about this, I was originally going to cut back on my use and just keep free status but, the more I think about it, with the recent Prime price hike, the more I’m leaning toward the Pro option and uploading all my back ups from Prime.  $50 year is pretty cheap for unlimited high res storage and hosting plus I enjoy the Flickr groups and community.
> 
> I currently have 2 additional Flickr accounts.  One that I use only for family photos and one for sharing photos from the few shoots I do for groups.   I would need to consolidate and have to figure out how to give limited access for the family and group stuff.



I just hope they do not start jacking up the Pro price all the time. I can see a justification for them needing more money, because setting up data centers is not cheap, and they are handling a lot of data. But in the end if they start treating customers badly, there will be plenty of competition. Cloudification is just starting, and will have many benefits (and likely many problems also), but FLickr like services give us a reasonable chance to display our photos.


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## SquarePeg (Nov 3, 2018)

markjwyatt said:


> SquarePeg said:
> 
> 
> > After reading about this, I was originally going to cut back on my use and just keep free status but, the more I think about it, with the recent Prime price hike, the more I’m leaning toward the Pro option and uploading all my back ups from Prime.  $50 year is pretty cheap for unlimited high res storage and hosting plus I enjoy the Flickr groups and community.
> ...



Agree.  It’s a lot of work to switch from one cloud to another if/when they raise the price beyond the introductory “gotcha” rates.  

What was the current cost of Flickr pro?


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## markjwyatt (Nov 3, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> markjwyatt said:
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> 
> > SquarePeg said:
> ...



I have not checked, but I heard it is around $50/yr.


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## vin88 (Nov 4, 2018)

I  have found the best and safest place for your photos is on your hard drive.  vin


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## snowbear (Nov 4, 2018)

vin88 said:


> I  have found the best and safest place for your photos is on your hard drive.  vin


Until the drive crashes.


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## terri (Nov 4, 2018)

snowbear said:


> vin88 said:
> 
> 
> > I  have found the best and safest place for your photos is on your hard drive.  vin
> ...


But isn't that what backups are for?   You can store all your flash drives elsewhere. 

This is when I appreciate being a luddite.   All this extra money and time, and the industry has you by the short hairs.   It would aggravate me to no end.


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## Overread (Nov 4, 2018)

The problem with your harddrive is it doesn't display photos online for you


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## snowbear (Nov 4, 2018)

terri said:


> snowbear said:
> 
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> > vin88 said:
> ...


That's my point.  A (single) hard drive is only safe as long as it works properly.


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## vin88 (Nov 4, 2018)

Overread said:


> The problem with your harddrive is it doesn't display photos online for you


  yes it does,  without the cloud.  also,   the hard drive can be removed and downloaded,  with the use of an "adaptor" and it becomes a storage item.  vin


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## TreeofLifeStairs (Nov 4, 2018)

If you’re using Flickr as your cloud backup I don’t think that was its intended purpose.

Post the pictures you’re proud of and want to share with others on Flickr (or one of the other many hosting sites). 

That being said, I thought when they rolled out the 1TB of free space that they said that it was going to be free forever. I don’t remember reading the fine print but I do feel like they are going back on something they had said they would offer. 

It doesn’t make much difference to me personally though since I’m no where near 1000 pics. 

Doesn’t adobe give 1TB of cloud storage with their $10/mo photography package?


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## Overread (Nov 5, 2018)

Adobe gives storage space, but I've no idea if it ties into embedding onto website and forums. I think Adobe is more focused on giving you storage that lets you work on different computers linked to cloud data storage. Remember its not just storage space that's an issue its bandwidth when displaying image stored on an online service.


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## Me2please (Nov 6, 2018)

If you were not tied to deeply into Flickr where would you go instead to upload your photos?


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## Dikkie (Nov 7, 2018)

There's also 500px , google photos, imgur, instagram, photobucket,...


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## Fujidave (Nov 7, 2018)

Me2please said:


> If you were not tied to deeply into Flickr where would you go instead to upload your photos?



Of all the sites, Flickr is by far the best one hands down.


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## Me2please (Nov 7, 2018)

Dikkie said:


> There's also 500px , google photos, imgur, instagram, photobucket,...


I tried Google Photo back when they first introduced it more of a place to back up photos on the cloud and Google lowered the size and resolution of the photos when I downloaded them so I was disappointed with Google photo. I'll have to take a look at the others.


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## birdbonkers84 (Nov 9, 2018)

Think I went pro a year ago? barely notice the £5 a month.  I prefer it to instagram and there are some really good groups on it. Sitting at around 700 photos, but I could probably cut that by half if i could be bothered.


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## Dikkie (Nov 9, 2018)

I always wondered if there is an algorithm behind Flickr such as Instagram has, which puts some photos on top, or longer visible, ... and how the algorithm works to get a better visibility.

There are people who always like to have more views, or likes or comments. For some, it's like a competition.

Personally, I use Flickr to host photos that I post on Forums (to discuss). It's nice to have comments/likes on Flickr, but not my main priority.
(there's aswel some question marks about the value of these likes, as there are lots of people just scrolling and randomly liking photos, without caring or viewing it, just to get likes back in return)

Now... to get to the point.
I noticed, until a while ago (a year?), I had significantly more views/likes than when I post photos nowadays.
Even though I use the same ways of posting them, tagging them, placing them in the same groups, posting them on the same forums, ...

Some people tell me (about instagram) that your visibility grows faster when you have less followers than the people you follow.
Sometimes on Flickr you see people posting lousy photos that get so much likes/comments, pictures that anyone could have taken, there's apparently no much criticism.

I first though that people with a PRO get priority or something, but it happens with free accounts too.


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## Fujidave (Nov 9, 2018)

The one thing with Flickr that I really have to laugh at sometimes is, Yes you get some great photos on Explore but some are just crap and look like a child with a mobile phone would of taken a better photo.


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## Overread (Nov 9, 2018)

Flickr does/did have its own algorithm thingy for showing off "random" popular photos that used to be a pretty popular game for some to try and get onto. I forget what it was called.

That said in general there are people who have a LOT of followers, however in general I notice that they also follow a LOT of blogs. I've seen some people following tens of thousands of people (they must either use a bot or get SUPER bored following everyone they can find). Because a good proportion of people just auto-follow back; or will follow back if someone has half decent skills. 

I tend to not follow those people unless they are interesting and REALLY outstanding (otherwise I'm just feeding their ego whilst they aren't really feeding mine )


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## Timppa (Nov 10, 2018)

I have put so much time and effort in storing my pictures in flickr in albums, I have loads of pictures there! And I do not use it for the likes, I use it for safe keep and to show pictures to friends and family.
I also have the pictures safe on computer tough.
What are free better/other alternatives than flickr?


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## TreeofLifeStairs (Nov 10, 2018)

Timppa said:


> I have put so much time and effort in storing my pictures in flickr in albums, I have loads of pictures there! And I do not use it for the likes, I use it for safe keep and to show pictures to friends and family.
> I also have the pictures safe on computer tough.
> What are free better/other alternatives than flickr?



I don’t know if there are any that are free AND better. There are still ones that are free but I wouldn’t say better and ones that are better but are not free. I think most options have already been talked about.


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## jcdeboever (Nov 10, 2018)

I use flickr to post albums of events and I send a link to people. I could care less about likes or views. My problem is the upload since I have a poor internet connection. It is a PITA. It takes a while for pages to load as well. 

I recently joined Facebook again and have been scaling images down and creating albums on there, much quicker and easier. I hate Facebook though, all the opinions and stuff irritate me.

If I ever get good at photography, I will probably look into a better way for my personal stuff. I think I'm leaning on a website which I started but don't have any good images to put out there yet.


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## markjwyatt (Nov 10, 2018)

jcdeboever said:


> I use flickr to post albums of events and I send a link to people. I could care less about likes or views. My problem is the upload since I have a poor internet connection. It is a PITA. It takes a while for pages to load as well.
> 
> I recently joined Facebook again and have been scaling images down and creating albums on there, much quicker and easier. I hate Facebook though, all the opinions and stuff irritate me.
> 
> If I ever get good at photography, I will probably look into a better way for my personal stuff. I think I'm leaning on a website which I started but don't have any good images to put out there yet.



Even if you have a website it can make sense to host your images on Flickr, then link them in to the website. The advantage of Flickr is you have independent viewing of your images (you can also have links to the website on Flickr), plus it makes it easy to post on forums, etc.


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## jcdeboever (Nov 10, 2018)

markjwyatt said:


> jcdeboever said:
> 
> 
> > I use flickr to post albums of events and I send a link to people. I could care less about likes or views. My problem is the upload since I have a poor internet connection. It is a PITA. It takes a while for pages to load as well.
> ...



I don't know. I have so many amateur pics on it, probably best to let it purge or purge it. I have only been in photography for 2 - 3/4 years. I am still waiting to get consistently average anyway. I am not very good at the moment.


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## Dikkie (Nov 11, 2018)

Overread said:


> I've seen some people following tens of thousands of people (they must either use a bot or get SUPER bored following everyone they can find).



Depends on how much time you gain them, if you have for example, 7500 people, after 10 years joining Flickr, it means 2 people you follow, per day.
That's 0,08 people per hour... I think a bot can do much more than that 

I'm currently being reducing the group of people I'm following, I can't watch or track them all. 
I'll only going to try to get grip on people I really know in real life, friends, or online buddies I really care about because I've much interaction with them.

I'll also try to delete lots of photos, to get a better overview.


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## markjwyatt (Nov 11, 2018)

jcdeboever said:


> I don't know. I have so many amateur pics on it, probably best to let it purge or purge it. I have only been in photography for 2 - 3/4 years. I am still waiting to get consistently average anyway. I am not very good at the moment.



One sign of a succesful artist is they question there own abilities.


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## Dikkie (Nov 16, 2018)

Timppa said:


> I have put so much time and effort in storing my pictures in flickr in albums, I have loads of pictures there! And I do not use it for the likes, I use it for safe keep and to show pictures to friends and family.
> I also have the pictures safe on computer tough.
> What are free better/other alternatives than flickr?


Hàh !! 
You're that guy from Beernem  I followed the gallery of photos for a while during your trip in the US.
Perkele ! kaunis kuvat!


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## CherylL (Nov 17, 2018)

Dikkie said:


> Overread said:
> 
> 
> > I've seen some people following tens of thousands of people (they must either use a bot or get SUPER bored following everyone they can find).
> ...



I wondered that too!  How does someone with 10k following keep up.  I have a core group of people on Flickr that I interact with, mostly schnauzer people.  What I try to do is if anyone likes or comments on my photo then I go to their page and do the same.  I had to open up a Yahoo account for Flickr and that email account is only used for Flickr.  

How do you know if you have 1000 photos?  I don't think I have that many, but where is the number?


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## RowdyRay (Nov 17, 2018)

CherylL said:


> Dikkie said:
> 
> 
> > Overread said:
> ...



Top right. Says you have 545 pics. I've got a ways to go. Worry about it when I get close.


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## Timppa (Nov 19, 2018)

I became pro -.-' member

They offered a nice discount till end of November and I have so many pics stored an organized, I did not see another way


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## Mattis (Nov 28, 2018)

I'll stick with Flickr. I have all my photos there that I share with animal conservation networks so they can use them.
It sucks that it got more expensive but I think the price is still fair for unlimited photo storage.

Oh also, thanks to that annoucnement my photo got over 3 million views 




Spangled cotinga (male) by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr


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## SquarePeg (Nov 28, 2018)

Timppa said:


> I became pro -.-' member
> 
> They offered a nice discount till end of November and I have so many pics stored an organized, I did not see another way



I did the same.  In the end the price wasn't much, especially for the annual plan.  I had just under 800 photos after cleaning out the junk so I figured I'd just do it now.


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## Dean_Gretsch (Nov 28, 2018)

If you need inspiration, there is sure to be a group that can help. As said above, the subscription isn't that bad imo.


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## Fujidave (Nov 28, 2018)

As I only have two images in my new Flickr, it will be quite a while before I pay for the Pro account.


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## Braineack (Nov 29, 2018)

ugh, i went pro cause too busy to go through and selectively reduce my account.


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## TreeofLifeStairs (Nov 30, 2018)

Braineack said:


> ugh, i went pro cause too busy to go through and selectively reduce my account.



They gotcha. That’s exactly what they wanted you to do.


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## Braineack (Nov 30, 2018)

i know.  i felt so dirty doing it.  but I actually like flickr and maybe it will weed out all the people that just use it for a cloud server/storage.


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## snowbear (Nov 30, 2018)

I just added an additional account - I have a few email addresses.


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## Fujidave (Dec 1, 2018)

I just payed up now for the Pro account, as once the weather really picks up I will clear 1,000 easy.


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## bosuzoku27 (Dec 12, 2018)

I've been on Pro for the last seven years or so.  8000+ photos on there right now, I thought I would've had more but I guess that's right.  I do feel gypped a bit (like others have said), more about weeding out free accounts than making Pro actually more worth it.  But I've built up such a following (3.6K) that I can't just stop and move to another site...


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