Is Flickr Video a Good Idea?

Posted by Pixelhead

The other day I found out about Flickr is now allowing video posts for Pro Account holders. They can can now upload up to 90 second videos with a size limit of 150mb per video. Flickr does not want professional quality videos, but wants users to post clips of their lives, much like photos but videos. Also if questionable videos are uploaded(porn), Flickr will notify the user and remove the videos.

I found the ijustine video ranting about Flickr whiners and I thought it was a much better video than mine, so you get to see her rather funny video instead. If you want to see my Philly Beer Fest video, click the link.Above is the first video that I posted on Flickr, which is a video note I made to myself about the Philly Beer Week which I only participated in by enjoying a Yuengling Lager at one of the local Boyertown establishments.

I don’t think I will be using Flickr for video hosting, especially since they limit it to 90 seconds, and Viddler, the video hosting service I use, which has so many cool features like video commenting, commenting within the video stream,and much more.

Apparently there are many Flickr users who are very irate about the use of video on Flickr. I really don’t see a problem with it, as you can chose not to view videos on your profile. I also noticed today that there were some groups that were not allowing videos.

What Do You Think of Flickr Video? If you feel like participating, check out TechCrunch’s post to voice your opinion about Flickr video.

Technorati Tags: Flickr,Flickr Video

Written by Pixelhead on April 12th, 2008 with 32 comments.
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32 comments

Read the comments left by other users below, or:

Alex Delarge
#1. April 12th, 2008, at 3:48 AM.

I dont think it is such a great idea, Flickr is known for photos that is how they became a strong name..Its not always a great idea to try to be a wal-mart (sell all things)

http://www.liveagl.com

James
#2. April 12th, 2008, at 5:40 PM.

Yeah I agree with Alex.. and no matter what, they will never be able to compete with Youtube. Why bother?

Trends Depot
#3. April 13th, 2008, at 5:19 PM.

They are a little too late in entering this game, youtube is too big. btw, the girl in the video is nice!

Sevierville Real Estate
#4. April 14th, 2008, at 12:10 AM.

Flickr has done a great job with photos. With all the different mediums out there that are used for video I think that flickr will just get lost in the mix. They should stay with what they have been successful at.

New Home Phoenix
#5. April 14th, 2008, at 6:56 PM.

I would think it would just enhance the usability of the service. Why are they so upset?

Faraz Ahmed
#6. April 14th, 2008, at 7:58 PM.

I don’t get it? why would people pay for something that websites like youtube and google videos offer for free and maybe even better.

also flickr is meant for photos not videos.

Barry
#7. April 14th, 2008, at 8:53 PM.

Flickr has moved things along in this niche, but I’m not sure if they will ever be able to compete with Youtube. YouTube seems to have pretty much dominated recently.

Pixelhead
#8. April 14th, 2008, at 9:15 PM.

@Faraz perhaps they are just adding value to the paid membership. I don’t really think they want to compete with Youtube, especially since the videos are limited to 90 seconds. However, you could use a small clip of a larger video and link that short video to the full length video which might be hosted on your blog or on one of the other video hosting sites.

Dallas
#9. April 15th, 2008, at 3:35 AM.

I dont think it’s a bad idea but I do think they should stick to their niche. It’s hard to compete with a giant and will likely only dilute their offerings. But more power to them.

zwinky money
#10. April 15th, 2008, at 7:25 AM.

i like flicker for photos but not for vids

Pixelhead
#11. April 15th, 2008, at 2:57 PM.

Zwinky, thanks for commenting, I had never heard of Zwinky before today. It looks like a site my daughters would love.

rebate processing
#12. April 15th, 2008, at 4:02 PM.

I don’t have a problem with Flickr expanding to try and get more people to use their site.

I find it interesting that they are doing this. Will this result in a competitor to YouTube?

What do you think? I know that when I am on Flickr, I would love to see videos that would go along with a users photos. Unfortunately, this has not been possible (until now).

We will have to see how it goes I guess.

http://www.rebateprocessing.info

Bob
#13. April 15th, 2008, at 4:54 PM.

Too much at stake (ad $$$) not to post videos. Google, Yahoo, and others caught on a little earlier after YouTube captured a huge market.

http://www.makemoneyworkathomebusiness.com

Kyle Wegner
#14. April 15th, 2008, at 7:54 PM.

I like the idea of flickr video because I think it makes sense at its core. If used correctly, flickr video will basically just be a moving image and will still be art. I can see this being used for amazing time-lapse videos, short family clips that really embody the character of the participants, and other videos of the same sort.

This will never be a youtube killer or even a competitor, as it shouldn’t be. This is a whole new beast, and I think it has the possibility to be beautiful.

Pixelhead
#15. April 17th, 2008, at 2:25 PM.

Kyle, well said, I fully agree with you.

Nicole Price
#16. April 17th, 2008, at 6:40 PM.

The market place is getting over crowded and one more offering is of no use to people already using other sites.

K.Phelps
#17. April 17th, 2008, at 10:26 PM.

Thats neat! I wasn’t aware that Flickr made a video option. Thank you.

Utah Land Development Firm

navtej kohli
#18. April 18th, 2008, at 6:33 AM.

I think what Nicole said is right. With so many video sharing sites coming up, it is becoming kind of confusing for the users to select one amongst them.

Pixelhead
#19. April 18th, 2008, at 2:01 PM.

Navte, that there are. I did come across a site that has a tool that lets you post to multiple video sharing sites at one time. I personally love Viddler and would encourage you to give it a try.

Nicole Price
#20. April 18th, 2008, at 3:24 PM.

Pixel, why would one want to do that? If I am happy with what I already have, and am satisfied with the responses that I get, why bother?

Pixelhead
#21. April 18th, 2008, at 5:54 PM.

I am happy with what I use as well, but I do like to test the waters and see what else is out there.
Also, unlike text content, your not going to get penalized for having the same video on other sites. The more places you have the video, the more chance it has of being seen since many of the video sites have their own communities.

But if you are happy with what you have and you are happy with the traffic that you receive, just use the one video site you are comfortable using.

Vending Guy
#22. April 18th, 2008, at 8:00 PM.

I see no reason why flickr shouldn’t get into the video game. If they don;t they within a year or so they ‘ll been seen as some old time site that only offers pictures. ewww

btw, good point about the duplicate content, i never thought about it before.

Leo The Lion
#23. April 21st, 2008, at 4:28 AM.

It does not matter if Flickr can compete with Youtube or not. Video clips make a great addition to any website and tend to make the site more sticky. I think it will help make Flickr a better website.

LostInPeace
#24. April 21st, 2008, at 7:11 AM.

Very good because people can see now videos from the entire planet.
Watch Lost Free Episodes

Online Money
#25. April 21st, 2008, at 11:16 AM.

Flicker is more known for photos but i don’t think it can compete with youtube.

Davin
#26. April 22nd, 2008, at 5:12 AM.

I heard that video up load can be done only by Pro users which must pay Pro license $25 a year. I think this cost will be highly affected people interest.

Blogging
#27. April 23rd, 2008, at 10:38 PM.

If they want to go in to the video game it’s up to them I suppose. Will they succeed? Maybe. Charging people to use this service is definitely going to hinder them. Too many people like youtube and youtube is free and simple to use.

Cheap Car Hire
#28. April 25th, 2008, at 2:05 AM.

To provide more functions to users is good. But I don’t agree to charge money for that.

Bapes
#29. April 27th, 2008, at 10:51 AM.

It seems that everyone is offering video now. I think the market is getting a bit saturated by video.
http://www.bathingape.com.au

VOIP Guy
#30. April 30th, 2008, at 3:34 PM.

Yeah, I think the 90 second limit will keep this from being really used.

They may be “trying something different” and wanting to do “long photos” but seems a poor implementation to me. They have the brand, but it still takes the right stuff to make it work.

-Voip guy

Newfoundland Business Directory
#31. July 25th, 2008, at 7:56 PM.

It’s very limiting don’t you think?? 90 seconds?

What’s the limit on Youtube? 10 minutes or something?

Chris @ http://www.newfoundlandbusinesses.ca

Car Hire Luton
#32. March 19th, 2009, at 11:13 AM.

The use of allowing video posts for Pro Account holders seems a good idea. It would be a good idea for easidrive Car hire Luton to give brief description of there services, 90 seconds videos would help promote there excellent business. A customer who wants car hire or van hire does have a choice. Not all car and van hire companies are the same and the customer should receive the service they deserve.

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