Flickr Users Revolt Over the Addition of Videos

The addition of videos to Flickr hasn't exactly resulted in the type of user feedback Yahoo! was probably expecting. Or perhaps it has.

Based on how people responded when the site changed hands (when Yahoo! bought Flickr), they should have expected this. Flickr users are passionate and not afraid to speak up.

They also have enough time to come up with clever photos expressing their opinions (as shown above).

At any rate, at least two anti-video groups have surfaced on Flickr, We Say NO to Videos on Flickr with over 23,000 members at the time of this writing, and NO VIDEO ON FLICKR!!! with close to 10K members.

There's also a petition at Petition Online with over 750 signatures right now. And a petition at Flickr with over 2,000 signatures (assuming no duplicates).

Quite a few are objecting over the "principle" of the thing, meaning Flickr is and should remain about photos, not videos. Others are asking for the ability to opt-out, and still others complain over a perceived site slowdown since the new feature went live.

If you're unaware, the new video-sharing feature lets Flickr "Pro" (and only "Pro") users upload 90-second videos alongside regular photos. Obviously, it's a move by Yahoo! to compete with YouTube. It's also likely to be something they thought would increase their "value" in the effort to halt Microsoft's takeover bid.

Flickr's response?

Here’s our response to what we see as frequent feedback here in the forum (I’ve paraphrased the feedback in some instances):

“I don’t want video on Flickr.”
We’re sorry, but video is here to stay. We’d love for everyone to give it a shot. If it’s not to your taste, then you should change the default on autoplay. You can distinguish between video and photos by the white arrow bottom left.

“I think video should have it’s own separate site.”
Just as with our international launch last year and building language on top of our global community, we wanted to avoid siloing what is after all, just another format.

“…did none of the staff see this coming?”
Given our experience with the outrage in moving sets from the left-hand side of the page to the right a few years ago (and various adventures since then), we’re very familiar with the passionate response of our members. We can’t be afraid of that. We need to continue to improve, release new features and iterate.

Feedback and iteration are very much part of our process. We very much value the feedback that we receive after features launch. It gives us a chance to take something good and give it that extra polish.

“I should be able to filter video out of my view of Flickr.”
There needs to be a balance between the “voice” of the creator and visitors. While it’s one thing to exclude certain content while searching, it’s quite another thing to presumptively curate what a member is choosing to share in their photostream.

However, I would have to say, "get used to it," as it's not going away. Although I have to wonder: whatever happened to doing one thing and doing it well, as opposed to trying to be all things to all people?