Got this email the other day:
We’re excited to announce that Flickr has agreed to be acquired by SmugMug, the photography platform dedicated to visual storytellers.
SmugMug has a long history of empowering people who love photography and who want to improve their craft, making them a perfect fit for Flickr and our creative community. With SmugMug, we’ll continue to focus on you, the Flickr members who inspire us all with your work.
Nothing will change immediately with regard to your Flickr account. You will still access Flickr with your current login credentials and you will have the same Flickr experience as you do now. We will continue to work to make your Flickr experience even better.
We think you are going to love Flickr under SmugMug ownership, but you can choose to not have your Flickr account and data transferred to SmugMug until May 25, 2018. If you want to keep your Flickr account and data from being transferred, you must go to your Flickr account to download the photos and videos you want to keep, then delete your account from your Account Settings by May 25, 2018.
If you do not delete your account by May 25, 2018, your Flickr account and data will transfer to SmugMug and will be governed by SmugMug’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
Read more detailed FAQs about this transition on the Flickr Blog.
We’re happy that Flickr is your home for photography and we look forward to the next chapter in our adventure together as we join the SmugMug family.
Thanks,
The Flickr Team
I’ve been a fan of Flickr for a very long time. “My Flickr Pro plan will automatically renew on January 14, 2019,” says my account screen.
I have 27,273 photos on Flickr as of this moment.
I joined in March 2004 — that’s 14 years and not insignificant to me.
Yahoo! acquired it in 2006, requiring Yahoo! based login. I wrote about that: thoughts on flickr’s 2006 account changes. I threatened to bolt, back then. And then didn’t. Ultimately I stayed with the service and I’ve been happy with the service, still.
I’m fascinated to see what happens with Flickr next. I trust in the stewardship of SmugMug and they’ve committed to keeping the service going.
Ben Cerveny, whose linkedin says he worked at Flickr in ’03/’04 has some beautiful thoughts about the whole thing in a terrific twitter thread:
I can't really express how personally gratifying the news of flickr's escape from it's long slow doom at the hands of corporate mismanagement has made me. Such massively expressive datastores are obviously culture and deserve to be celebrated as such.https://t.co/RsuD5IhdTT
— Ben Cerveny (@neb) April 21, 2018
Don MacAskill is the CEO at SmugMug and is apparently on it:
First weekend "on the job" @Flickr w/@SmugMug. Learning tons, lots more to come. Customer feedback so far:
1. Fix login. (Knew this, but urgency amp'd)
2. Better email delivery. (Sorry about that)
3. Keep free accounts. (Done! Always in the plan)
Keep it coming, always learning.— Don MacAskill (@DonMacAskill) April 23, 2018
By the way the last time I mentioned his name on the blog was 11 years ago: Don MacAskill of SmugMug points out that Amazon S3 now has a Service Level Agreement. This is good news.
I’ve stuck with Flickr despite Yahoo for a long time. But I’m feeling positive and I hope the service stays strong. Best wishes to SmugMug!
