The image above from user Brent and Marilynn is about the best Flickr protest I’ve seen. It’s certainly better than the plethora of protest images on both sides.
In my opinion, the whole thing has gotten out of hand. The video naysayers have caused more disruption than the addition of videos to the site. It’s not enough that protest groups have formed. Now one has to wade through “No Video” signs and icons in just about every discussion group. Searching on the term “video” doesn’t bring up any videos, but images of protest on both sides. Photo purists have posted negative comments on just about every video I have managed to find. (Fortunately, none on mine so far.)
In fact, here’s a short video that shows just how badly this has gotten out of hand. Someone had the temerity to post a “Yes to Video” sign in their photostream. What followed was a barrage of anti-video comments, some of them quite hateful. And, yes, I posted this video to Flickr.
All of these protests are pointless. Flickr isn’t going to take away the video capabilities now that they have already added them and made a significant investment. I was talking with my brother, Houston, last night, and he made a very good point. He thinks that Flickr has added this because it’s parent company, Yahoo, is courting potential buyers, and is trying to add more value to its products. The protests only serve to add more traffic and more buzz. So, good or bad, the overall affect of the protests is to benefit Yahoo. I think he might be onto something.
[tags]Flickr, video, protests, Yahoo[/tags]
As an outsider to this, I think it’s quite entertaining and fun to watch what’s happening. It’s fun to watch without having “a dog in the fight.”
Wow. Your post just made me realize Flickr would be owned by Microsoft if the deal goes through. The Evil Empire itself! I was pissed enough when Flickr sold out to Yahoo. I’ve been a paid user that long.