Flickr accidentally deleted

[handicap18]

an account with 4,0000 images.

Article appeared on the Huntington Post's web site last night at about 6:30...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/flickr-deletes-photos_n_817218.html?ref=fb

 

[ssanders79]

That stinks, hopefully there is a backup tape somehwere that can be accessed to update his account. I cannot believe there would not be a backup avaliable to quickly resolve this issue. Four years of free service is not an acceptable fix. At the very least they should give him a lifetime pro account.

 

[photo_chick]

Another reason I don't like Flickr. This isn't the first time I've heard of something like this happening on there, though I've never heard of it with this large of a photo collection.

 

[Revulkcor]

I'd be so mad. I feel sorry for the guy. I use Deviantart instead of Flickr. I did use Flickr for a year though (I bought a years subscription) and I didn't like it all too much.

 

[GrillMouster]

I dislike Flickr for so many reasons. First and foremost, the site is just plain UGLY. It does nothing to make the images look their best, and has few options for users to customize the look. This is odd for a site dedicated to photography. The interface is not intuitive or friendly to new users; it's not the kind of site I'd be comfortable sending my mom or grandmother to share pics of my family and allow them to download the full-sized images (too many clicks for them to find out how to do this). The site looks and runs like it was designed in someone's garage!

The two things Flickr has going for it is the social aspect with other amateur photographers (which isn't important to me) and the cheap unlimited storage that comes with a Flickr Pro account. The news of Mozy getting rid of its unlimited storage option (I'm not a Mozy cusomter) is a harbinger of what's to come. With so many people getting high-megapixel cameras that also shoot 1080p HD video, online storage companies can't afford to offer cheap unlimited storage options. For now, Flickr Pro is a bargain.

 

[SrisonS]

I really hope this wasn't the only place the pictures were stored (as the article seemed to sorta say... they should clarify it). I have heard of people using Flickr as the only place they put their photos (no hard drive or anything!!!); which is totally bonkers.

I'm a dedicated Flickr user, and I honestly do agree with GrillMouster's dislikes about the site (I remember starting an account, then not going back for over a year, just because the site seemed confusing). But the community aspect can't be beat. I've been able to interface with so many great photographers, especially Disney ones; and have been able to actually meet up with those people in person. So all around, people are forming friendships with others who share their love of photography.

 

[topdog]

4,000 pictures seems a lot but I am sure there are users out there who have more than that.

Hard drive are pretty cheap these days. There is no reason why user doesn't has a copy of their own pictures on a local hard drive. It's not that expensive to have 2 hard drives to store 2 copies of the pictures in case one of the hard drive fail.

I always have a copy on tape and a copy on hard drive.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

First of all, I am a Flickr Pro user, but I would be upset that I 'lost' those images, but not as mad as I would be at myself for not having them stored somewhere else! While 4,000 images sounds like a lot, it really isn't. I have more than that from my last trip to WDW. I can't believe that in his workflow the only place those images existed was in Flickr. I would like to hear the "Rest of the Story"!

 

[handicap18]

I used Flickr for a while, but then I started reading news articles about Flickr's privacy and security. They created (or had one created) software to give to advertising agency's an easier way to find tagged images to use in their advertising. Even though people would choose the option to not have this happen to their photos, it was still happening. Photos were being used without the owner knowing it was being used or receiving credit. I saw at least 4 stores like that. Maybe its changed, but at this point it doesn't matter to me.

I switched to smugmug and removed all my images from Flickr 2 years ago. I have over 8,000 images on smugmug, but I also have a Time Machine hard drive backup at home and use carbonite to back up my images.

I like smugmug's privacy and security much better (they actually test it every now and then and show you that they've tested it).

I like carbonite because its not to expensive and I really don't have to do anything. Same for my Time Machine (it comes with the Mac, you just supply the extra hard drive).

With your photo's you can never be to careful and there is no such thing as redundant.

 

[C&B Young]

I'm a dedicated Flickr user, and I honestly do agree with GrillMouster's dislikes about the site (I remember starting an account, then not going back for over a year, just because the site seemed confusing). But the community aspect can't be beat. I've been able to interface with so many great photographers, especially Disney ones; and have been able to actually meet up with those people in person. So all around, people are forming friendships with others who share their love of photography.

This is why I use Flickr also. As a way to display your portfolio it sucks, but it's great for the social networking aspect (I got to briefly meet Scott, and other Disney photographers this past December because of it!). I personally don't even have full-resolution pictures uploaded on the web, and I wouldn't reply on any website as a primary backup source.

 

[Experiment_626]

That stinks, hopefully there is a backup tape somehwere that can be accessed to update his account. I cannot believe there would not be a backup avaliable to quickly resolve this issue

According to what I heard a few weeks ago on the "This week in Photography" podcast, there is not. Whether Flickr's management intentionally deletes an account or it happens by accident, there is no way to recover what was lost. Which just seems strange -- but I suppose that if there were, it would mean that Flickr would have to have double whatever storage capacity the entire site is using at any given time. The mind reels ...

Scott

 

[SrisonS]

According to what I heard a few weeks ago on the "This week in Photography" podcast, there is not. Whether Flickr's management intentionally deletes an account or it happens by accident, there is no way to recover what was lost. Which just seems strange -- but I suppose that if there were, it would mean that Flickr would have to have double whatever storage capacity the entire site is using at any given time. The mind reels ...

Scott

I think that if anything, they should just lock the deliquent accounts for a short period, in case there's a need for investigation; or if an account is accidentally targeted. Then they won't have to double up on space or anything. It would suck to just mistakenly lose all your contacts and any following you may have. Now if you accidentally closed your own account, that's your own fault.

 

[WDWFigment]

I agree with Grillmouster's complaints, but also agree with Scott. If you're a Disney oriented photographer interested in the social side of things (or even just seeing the best photos), you've got to be on Flickr. No forums or other sites come close to comparing.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

According to the story I just read,the account has been restored from backups. And they gave the user a free 25 year pro user account.

 

[C&B Young]

According to the story I just read,the account has been restored from backups. And they gave the user a free 25 year pro user account.

Story is here:
http://www.observer.com/2011/tech/f...400-lost-photos-and-really-really-sorry-about

Hopefully this bad press will spur Flickr on to examining it's account deletion methods. I'm not saying they should retain your photos forever (like Facebook!)
but a little bit of a buffer may not be a bad idea.

 

[Gdad]

25 years of Flickr Pro is worth a little over 600 bucks- sorry but there is no way I would want to even try to recreate what I have on Flickr with images, tags, groups, contacts, and all the organization on my photostream for that. It's a labor of love the first time throug- doing it over would be more like work. I'd be pretty ticked.