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Half way to ipernity
There's reallly nothing unique about my story: I'm appalled by the new Flickr UI, disgusted with the responses (or non-responses) from "community manager" Thea Lamkin, and sad to see the Flickr community that I valued for the past seven years disappear before my eyes.

So here I am, or here half of me is. My 3958 photos on Flickr constitute 44 chunks of 90 photos each. I'm importing in reverse order (newest photos first) and have just reached the half way point with chunk #22. I'm not sure if it's a good plan or not, but I've been doing the chunks slowly, trying to make the obvious albums/sets out of each chunk or two as I go. Some people have imported all their photos, then worked on the albums, but I think I'd get overwhelmed by that approach and it might take months before any albums materialized.

So far, I'm liking it here. I've found a dozen or so old Flickr mates, joined a few groups, and made some new friends. It's quieter here, for sure, but I'm enjoying the calm and the lack of vitriol and snark. And I really like the white space!

I'm still drawn back to Flickr -- to see the latest photos from my mates who are still there, to check on a couple of groups, and -- like watching a train wreck -- to read the feedback on the help forum. I've had a recent run-in with Thea, in which she left me a very snarky reply, but I haven't been banned over there yet. When I finish all my imports to ipernity, I may make all my Flickr photos viewable by friends and family only (except for my Guess Where London photos). In the meantime, I have one foot in each place, but I'm moving towards the light.

11 comments

Jen Pedler said:

Yes, it's interesting the different approaches people have taken to their flickr exit strategy. I've imported all my pics now (although I think there are a few that haven't made it and I'm gradually checking as I sort out the albums). I'm not sure whether that was the best approach but I just wanted to leave flickr behind asap.
Like you, I'm still lurking on the help forum but resisting the temptation to post there. I'm sure there's enough material there for someone to write a phd thesis!
10 years ago

MJ Maccardini (trail… said:

14 more chunks to go. A few photos were AWOL in my last import of 4 chunks -- maybe I did them too quickly. Hoping to be done by the end of the week. I hardly ever go to Flickr any more other than a quick look at my recent activity and GWL. Still reading the help forum though -- I've not been banned yet, nor has RobBeer. It makes for entertaining reading.
10 years ago

Jen Pedler said:

Hard to let go completely and in a way no point as it's free now but do I want to let Yahoo have access to my pics? Bit of a faff to make them all private or friends only. Also I wonder if too many people start just using it as storage whether they'll limit the number of private photos you can have.
Maybe my old account there will become like my first photoblog on a site called fotopages. It's still out there in the ether. A ghost of me in the Internet!
10 years ago

slgwv replied to Jen Pedler:

I've left my account on Flickr for cheap storage, but made all 40K of my photos "private" so Yahoo won't get a dime of ad revenue from them. I have also wondered, though, if Flickr will decide that you can't have private photos any more. They've already capped uploads at 200 pix at a time. (Subtext: You can have a free terabyte just so you don't use it!) The cap doesn't apply to the old uploadr, tho, but (surprise!) it's not available any more.

If they _do_ decide you can't have private photos I will pull the plug at that point.
10 years ago

MJ Maccardini (trail… said:

Now that I've been banned from the Forum on Flickr, I've been trying to stay away from there. Good news is that I have <1000 photos left to transfer to ipernity. As I'm doing it, I find myself singing "Highgate Hill" by the Electric Penguins, substituting "chunks" for "miles."

See the lights over London town ... Only ten more chunks to go.
10 years ago

slgwv replied to MJ Maccardini (trail…:

After the Ipernity Team said they were working on a set-importing script, I decided to wait for it. Glad I did--much more painless way to move all my 40K photos over! And, of course, automatically keeps the organization.

Now I'm just waiting for them to complete the "folders" option (equivalent of "collections")...
10 years ago

MJ Maccardini (trail… replied to :

I was kind of in a hurry because my Pro account expires any day now. On the stats page, at the bottom, it shows you how many photos are private/public, how many are in sets/not in sets. I used the links there quite a bit as I was moving things. I made all but 150 photos friends-and-family only. The 150 that I left public are linked to off-Flickr indexes such as Open Plaques (www.openplaques.org). I'm seeing a lot of "This photo is no longer available" boxes on Open Plaques, so I fear that people have deleted their Flickr accounts entirely or made their linked photos private. Anyway, the process made my move to ipernity a little slower, but worth the effort I think.
10 years ago

Isisbridge said:

What are people getting banned for?
9 years ago

MJ Maccardini (trail… said:

When Thea Lamkin was community manager in charge of the F*ckr feedback forum, she routinely banned people for posting negative feedback. The ban is permanent, it seems.
9 years ago

Isisbridge replied to MJ Maccardini (trail…:

Thea Lamkin must be one of the world's most hated women.

When people get banned, do they get time to retrieve their photos first?
Or is all their work lost?
9 years ago

MJ Maccardini (trail… said:

They were only banned from posting on the feedback forum, not from F*ckr entirely. I think you have to commit a serious violation of the community standards in order to have your account deleted.
9 years ago