Flickr revolt: namby-pambiest NIMBY ever!

To catch up the uninitiated, there is a revolt afoot on Flickr, one of the Internet's most popular — and zealously guarded — photo-sharing sites. 

You see, earlier this week, Flickr gave its users the ability to upload 90-second videos to their accounts.  Since most newer digital cameras can also act as video recorders, the folks at Flickr thought their user base would appreciate the ability to store all of their camera's contents in one place. Or, in Flickr's more poetic coinage, the 90-second snippets can be seen as "long photos."

In one of the most perplexing uproars I've seen online, a large swath of Flickrites has united in protest: against the video feature. They are saying, in essence, that introducing this lower form of art (video) will tarnish the site's reputation as a bastion of "fine photography."

The mission statement of the 25,000-member group "We Say No to Videos on Flickr" offers the following timeless (and slightly unpolished) proclamation against video oppression:

I love Flickr, and I think it should stay the same way it has always been. It should just be for Photos!

We don't need another YouTube! I have nothing against YouTube, I just don't want to see all the $*#% that on there to wind up on here!

Fair enough. Open a site up to any new kind of content and you're bound to get a flood of mediocre stuff. You have to give it to Flickr: Along with a few photos of debatable interest value, it has indeed managed to attract a community of skilled and enthusiastic photographers. It would be a shame if that community was destroyed by wanton video uploading.

My question is: OK, you've got all these good photographers sharing their still images. In the clamor and chaos the video feature is obviously going to bring, are these people suddenly going to lose their artistic eye? Or is it that good photographers make bad videographers? All right, now I'm just being sarcastic, so I should stop. 

You know what I think, though (before I stop)? I think the Internet has given rise to a petition-happy culture, where we love to make a stink about various and sundry causes, because it reminds us we're alive. But when it comes to actually going to that mat — getting up in those trees or lying down in front of that tractor — well, someone else can do that.

A couple of months ago I heard that an old burger joint was closing in my college town — a real fixture of the community.  So I started a Facebook petition and got a few thousand signatures to save it. Great! But then I realized that a petition doesn't save a bankrupt hamburger place. Money, effort and organization does. And I don't know about you people, but I don't have much of any of those in the first place, let alone some to spare.

Comments

[andy]

Can someone point out to these people that having videos is not mutually exclusive with their photos? Even if the videos are of the worst youtube quality, it will not prevent them from clicking the upload button.

I say someone else because i am lazy. you are spot on about that
cheers to you
kind author

[Fabio]

Flickr is now hiding the amount of photos tagged with ''novideo'' it started as a form of protest to become an all time tag in the explore page.

some users are now deleting their accounts because of the response by Flickr team.

in one of the videos from the manager of Flickr everyone from the Flickr Headquarter's office posted in one of the most difficult times for us members they where shouting loud all together and at the same time we are getting computer generated replies only to our emails concerning what is happening.

Flickr will never be as good as youtube why don't they keep it for photos only, over 25,000 members agree with it.

[Samantha]

One of the issues is that Flickr has stopped working as well recently, something that coincided with the introduction of this new feature. Since the malfunctioning includes things that Flickerites love about the site (the ability to rapidly see photographs uploaded by your contacts, for example) this addition seems to be a miscalculation by Flickr.

[Jacob]

There's an even more popular protest going on at Flickr right now-- the We Demand Donuts group has managed to convince Flickr to give one donut to each member at a donut shop TBD in San Francisco on April 16. For Los Angelenos, there will be a Day of the Donut meet-up at Randy's Donuts in Inglewood on April 16 at 11AM. Join the group, then head on over to Randy's Wednesday morning to enjoy donuts with your fellow Flickrites.