Where did my collections sets go? Why are the photos all so big? Why can't i see them on white space any longer? What it this about the Pro account being $50.00 dollars? Or wait, what is this about Pro accounts not existing anymore? What happened? I'm so lost. I don't remember being notified about this? Was I notified about this?
If you're a flickr user, photographer, Blythe collector or all three as I am, these are questions that might have been racing through your head when you logged on to your flickr account last week. Some people are fine with the extreme new changes in layout but I was honestly gobsmacked. I was thrown for a loop. I thought something went wrong and still do whenever I log in over there and am bombarded with super large photos squeezed in together on the screen with only black space all around. I find it very disorienting in many ways and it annoys me greatly. I've been a flickr member since 2007 and have had a pro membership for maybe three or so years. Among many of the reasons I used to love flickr one of the most important for me is the fact that they seemed to give you choices about the ways in which you could set you layout to be seen by yourself and others. I don't really understand why they can't still offer that. But it seems that over the years, giving members options and choices have slipped off of flickr's priority list.
On the other hand, flickr is not a space we own, it's one we pay for, but for Blythe collectors it has also become a very close knit community over the years, a place to gather, exchange ideas, arrange meetings, display work, express frustrations, make friends and get feedback. I don't expect that this is something corporations give a shit about but for the record, flickr was a place I would go to daily for inspiration, with respect to Blythe and photography in general. I have two flickr accounts, one for Blythe and one for non doll photography. I have no plans to delete either of these but I have started a new account over at ipernity a place where many of my Blythe Community friends and contacts seem to have been taking refuge, a place that feels oh so safe and where I can see photos against a layout that is more pleasing to my eye. It feels very much like a flickr that once was years ago. It's not perfect (for instance ipernity charges you to download your own photos?) and I will never believe again that layouts and conditions on any online image bank will remain the same forever. But for now it's just so much easier to breath at ipernity. I still have no idea what ipernity means though. LOL! But I do appreciate how kind they have been and how welcoming to those displeased souls who have migrated over from flickr in droves.
Maybe I'm coming off as a bit naive. I can admit that. I absolutely loved flickr when I started there in 2007. I thought it was the best thing ever and recommended it to everyone. I understand that what might be have been harmonious to my eye then, might have struck someone elses' eye at that time as unsettling. But for me the fact that I had no choice in this matter is what really pisses me off. That flickr used to give members options for how to see their photographs for such a long time and now have eliminated those options just doesn't work for me. And what's with everyone acquiescing to this damn Facebook profile layout. UGH!!! I have a facebook account already. I don't want to see everything in Facebook-o-vision! *sigh*
Anyway, this is just internet shit, and flickr was already starting become marginal to my needs after Instagram hit the scene. I was definitely not going on there as much as I did a year or so ago. But it was nice to know that when I did log on to flickr, it was generally the same space it was when I left it. I have thousands of images on there, literally years of digitally recorded memories, so it's hard to say goodbye altogether. So I won't. I will just be splitting off the sharing of my doll images on ipernity. I will still upload to flickr. I have a 365 challenge to complete there and I'm trying be a finisher. As a typical Gemini, having more than a few options with respect to things I love has always been second nature to me. But I never wanted be on any other image bank but flickr. I was loyal to them when it came to using a central online space for sharing pictures. I was until now.
