What Do You Do When Fighting With Narrow Minded Photographers?

Lately on a photo sharing site called Flickr I have been fighting with a few members of the community over Flickr’s “non-photos” policy. Basically, if your account contains too many “non-photos” then your entire account cannot be seen in any public area. No one can even find your photos in a public search! The only way to have your photos noticed is if you add them to a “group photo pool”. I have expressed many dislike for this policy because of my desire to share my experiences in There with the Flickr community. No one seems to understand that and they seem to stick with a 19th century definition of “photo” in which a screen shot isn’t considered a photo.

Well, isn’t that just convient for them? Obviously today people can consider any kind of image a photo. That includes any kind of screen shot or other image. I think they don’t understand that more kinds of images would add depth and diversity to the site. It would open doors for more customers and allow new possibilities which is a good thing. Flickr can’t avoid people uploading these so called “non-photos” and I don’t see the point in fighting those people who do choose to use their Flickr account in their own way.
Flickr is basically ruining many customer’s expereinces with this policy. I have seen people agree with me and defend my opinions but it seems there are too many of these closed minded people on Flickr. They don’t understand that there is no point is using Flickr if my photos of There are hidden from public view. I am not the only one who posts screen shots and other “non-images” on Flickr. Lots of people do and they all come against this policy once or twice. Flickr itself and it’s community should embrace change and improvment. But it kind of seems like they don’t want to and I don’t understand that way of thinking. I’m not closed minded, especially when it comes to peoples opinions and points. But many of the things they point out are just plain wrong and dumbfounded.

I think user-driven sites such as Flickr have a big part to play in the future of virtual worlds and the Metaverse. I do believe that it’s possible that one day 2D content may be able to be “translated” into 3D content inside a virtual world. Kind of like a web page being streamed into There and then displayed in 3D format. But these Flickr members also wonder why anyone on the Flickr site would be interested in virtual worlds or There. It’s very easy to find many screen shots and groups connected with virtual worlds on the Flickr site. Many There and Second Life users make use of Flickr but still have a horrible experience due to this policy that doesn’t even make sense.

I went to Flickr to share my experiences inside There with everyone at Flickr, not just people who would of happened to find my photo stream. I don’t appreciate my photos of There being blocked from public view and public search. It just makes people have a bad experience with Flickr and never come back. But I do think Flickr may learn and embrace change which is why I don’t plan on leaving the site. I like the way Flickr works actually, but not the policy they have in place. It simply hinders some people’s enjoyment of Flickr and I think such hinerance should be found and not embraced. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, won’t we?