Since Flickr announced, and unveiled, their big changes in May, the doll community has remained rather split on if the changes are good or bad. I asked then if people were wanting to stay with Flickr or move to another photo sharing site. A lot of people migrated to Ipernity, but then people moved back for whatever reason.

I personally found Ipernity a bit of a pain to use. Yes, it had some fantastic features that I think a lot of people enjoyed (e.g. journaling capabilities, the fact that the Ipernity staff is okay with people using images to sell items), but a lot of people eventually moved back to Flickr. I had opened an Ipernity account, but I found it cumbersome and honestly, I didn’t want to maintain two social media accounts for photos when I had already established myself onto Flickr for years now. As a non-Etsy/Artfire seller, I haven’t been reported for selling on the forums and I know some people have and found it frustrating that Flickr takes selling so seriously – especially when there are some that get away with selling without so much as a peep. I found Ipernity to be slow at times, and I felt that it could have been better organized. Plus, initially I did not have email notifications turned off so when people were adding me as a friend/contact, my email inbox just imploded upon itself and I was suddenly faced with a staggering number of new, unread emails in a very short period of time. But I feel that the community’s stance on Ipernity has also declined as well. While I don’t actively use Ipernity (this may be because I can directly upload Instagram photos onto Flickr…), I’ve noticed a decrease in the number of photos being uploaded there, as well as a decrease in activity amongst the people I had added as contacts. Was the community’s mass migration from Flickr to Ipernity too hasty?

If you are still on Flickr…

1. Have you gotten used to the changes by now?
2. Do you still prefer the old Flickr to the new Flickr?
3. Are you having trouble finding certain pages still or has the navigation system become like second nature?
4. What is, in your opinion, the worst aspect of the ‘new’ Flickr?

If you made the move to Ipernity…

1. Do you find Ipernity active?
2. Do you still check Flickr to see if there are photos you’ve missed seeing?
3. What are your favourite Ipernity features?
4. What is your least favourite aspect of Ipernity?

Remember, if you have a Pro account now, you still have until August 20th to change your account from Pro to Free status and get a prorated refund on your annual subscription. However, once you change to a Free account, you are no longer eligible to subscribe at the same rate (annual fees will double).

The Blythe community has gone into a bit of an uproar after Flickr unceremoniously revealed a new layout and style. Many people – including non-Blythe individuals – have been referring to Flickr’s facelift as being similar to Facebook. In addition to the new changes on the web-based website, their mobile app has also been changed.

As a Pro account holder for Flickr, I’m a bit iffy about the changes. As of May 20 2013, there are three different account types being offered by Flickr and here are some of the specifications:

• Free – 1 Tb of space, max. 200mb/photo, 1GB/video, ads
• Ad-Free – $49.99/year – same as above, but without ads
• Doublr – $499.99/year – 2Tb of space, all other features the same as above

But if you had a Pro account? Just a taste of what was available:

• Max. 50mb/photo, 500mb/video
• Unlimited storage
• Ad-free
• $24.95/year

Flickr, so soon after announcing the intention to purchase Tumblr, decided to scrape the previous model (Free and Pro accounts) to go with the new model (Free, Ad-Free and Doublr). I personally think that spending $500/year is steep. I’d rather take the $500 and invest it into something else, if I was that into photography (which, I am not). At $50/year just to take away ads? That’s already double what it used to cost for a Pro account, for one year ($24.95/year). Of course, nothing in life is free. By opening Flickr up to advertisers, the many account holders become the product that’s being sold rather than making revenue off of Pro account holders. Granted, if you think about it, $50 for 365 days of ad-free web-browsing, that ends up being $0.137 per day for ad-free browsing. Doesn’t seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, does it? But if you want to avoid spending $50 per year, continue reading on!

What if I already have a Pro account?

If your Pro account was extended by the 3 months of ‘gifted’ Pro by Flickr, I found that users have been saying that they do not have the option of renewing their Pro account. Additionally, if you were given the “Gift of Pro” by a friend, you are also unable to renew the Pro account status because you weren’t the one who paid for it. Sneaky little loophole, isn’t it?

If you paid for your Pro account yourself, you have the option of keeping the Pro status and all it’s features (including the ad-free browsing capabilities and the option to renew once your subscription is up). The price is currently staying the same ($24.95/year). My Flickr Pro is set to expire on April 1 2015 – so I don’t know if the price will still be the same then!

For those that would like to switch from Pro to Free status, it would appear that you do have the option of doing so. And if you had paid for the account (rather than being gifted Pro status), people have been reporting that they can get a prorated refund. You have until August 20 2013 to decide if you want to stay with your Pro account or if you wish to make the switch to Free. For those that are worried about ads, there have also been reports that ad blockers (there are many plugins available for many popular browsers) are able to block the ads on accounts on Flickr that are Free.

As for the app…

I can’t give anyone an opinion about the Apple-friendly version of the Flickr app, but I updated my (Android) Flickr app to the new version and it mimics the updated website quite nicely – only I like the layout on the app a lot better than on my computer. I spent some time playing around with the app and I find it easier to navigate and to move from one section to another. I can actually get to my groups on the mobile app now – which is a huge plus. The way the website is designed is more mobile friendly than web browser friendly, but I’m still getting used to both of them. Nobody has mentioned seeing ads on the app yet, so I’m unsure if ads will soon be part of the Flickr apps or not.

Do I stay or do I go?

Some people in the Blythe community have decided to leave Flickr out of anger of the changes. Many people have moved to Ipernity. Another alternative for Flickr is 500px.

I will have a post up about these two alternative photo-sharing websites after I get a chance to explore both options a bit more thoroughly (before the August 20th deadline).