As of today, flickr has added video to the site. Not everyone seems to appreciate it. Being an old-school Flickr user I figured I'd write something about how I personally feel about Flickr's latest feature.

Say No to Flickr Video

As you probably know, Flickr introduced their video feature earlier this week. Unfortunately their effort is half-assed and only detracts from the site. They only allow videos of 90 seconds or less, which isn't really useful. It's obviously meant for the short videos you can take with many point-and-shoot cameras or cell phones, but there are plenty of other sites which do it much better.

/dev/random

After the new video feature on Flickr launched, not all reactions in the blogosphere, on Twitter and on Flickr itself were positive. I ran across comments such as the one I quoted at the beginning of this post quite a few times. People even felt the need to start a no video on flickr group. I shake my head and sigh...

Why I do like Flickr video

In my opinion, Flickr made a perfect choice by allowing only 90 seconds worth of video. The little banner that was posted on the site kind of gives away what the philosophy behind it is. "It's like a photo, but it moves!". And that's exactly what it is. Lots and lots of people use Flickr as some sort of 'life stream'. While I take 'serious photos' as well, I really like the life stream aspect of Flickr. It tells others what's going on in my life in images. And now this lifestream has been enhanced with full motion video. Excellent!

The videos on Flickr are beautifully integrated with the photos. There's mini thumbnails with the same size as the ones available for photos. There's larger thumbnails that spring to life when clicked. Videos can be mixed with photos. Everything is pretty much treated as the same thing. In terms of user experience this is awesome and unmatched. I can't think of any other site that mixes photos and videos this well.

Only 90 seconds? Lame!

People who want to post long videos are probably a lot better off at YouTube, Google Video or Yahoo's own Yahoo! Video and Jumpcut. I think Flickr's philosophy must have been something like: "Sometimes that one little snapshot of your life just comes out better in full motion video!". Want to post music videos, try to become an internet video celebrity or your own personal anti-religion manifest? Use one of the before mentioned video sites. Want to post a small snippet of your life? Do use Flickr video! I sure will!

I'm serious about photography, damnit!

Good for you! I am too. If you aren't interested in videos I hereby propose a simple but yet powerful solution: DON'T POST THEM!. I honestly don't see the problem. Don't want to watch any videos? Don't click any thumbnail that has a little 'play' button on it. Easy isn't it? There's some serious beauty in simplicity sometimes. A no video protest group? Pretty pathetic if you ask me... But hey, what do I know? I'm quite serious about photography (at times) but I think it's good to not take myself TOO seriously. At least not serious enough to be bitching and moaning about seeing some videos on my favourite photo portfolio site.

So here it is: I like Flickr's new video feature. Congratulations to the Flickr team for an amazing integration with photography! And to all naysayers: Nobody is forcing you to post and/or watch videos on Flickr I don't think.