Another Year of Flickr

I just visited my Flickr profile and was startled to see my Pro account had expired ... yikes! Flickr pro is one of the things I gladly pay for each year. I get more joy and satisfaction out of that social network then maybe all the others I participate in for some reason. I think it is because it shows me sides of people I rarely if ever get to see elsewhere. That makes it five years of Flickr Pro for me.

Comments

[Beth]

oops! I just realized that my flickr pro account expired as well. I feel like I am not utilizing it well enough to justify the fee each year. I was hoping flickr would inspire me to take more and interesting photos, but I am not finding myself there very much...and I end up keeping pics of Reed under "wraps"...which probably constitutes most of my photos! Any suggestions for utilizing that space a bit more effectively?

[.tiff]

Flickr has become my favorite social network over the past few years. I didn't expect it to, as I'm not a huge photo fanatic or anything, but I've met friends, colleagues, and pen pals through their image galleries. Definitely worth paying for pro, I love flickr!

[Cole Camplese]

Beth, the killer features of Flickr happen when you spend a little time exploring the groups related to things you are interested in -- and I know time is not something you have at your disposal, so take this with a grain of salt. Flickr doesn't really help me take more/better pictures ... as a matter of fact, Kristin has emerged as the *much* better photographer in our house. I love that I have lots of contacts/friends/family that use Flickr and I spend quite a bit of time watching their photo feeds. I actually have subscribed to most of my contact's RSS feeds out of Flickr and that really helps me stay current -- what I miss at Flickr I see in google reader.

The other thing I think is really great about Flickr is exploring groups. Every now and then I actually drop one of my pictures into an established group and marvel at how much more traffic it and the pictures around it get. I can tell you that getting a comment from a stranger who likes a picture I've taken is so cool ... I've discovered that is what drives me to take better pictures. Getting a little feedback from my own community is killer and getting some feedback from someone outside that crew is even more motivating for some reason.

The other thing I notice is that so many of the authors of the blogs that I follow also have really rich Flickr accounts. Seeing a different side of them is a really cool way to get to know them more deeply. Seeing their pictures gives me new insight into why they write about the things they write about. I love trying to connect the dots on their meta identities.

I hope all that helps and you re-up your Pro account! I like seeing the family adventures!

[Bernie Goldbach]

I couldn't imagine living without Flickr. I pay for two pro accounts so I can focus one more on work and the other on whatever lights up my eyes.