Flickr Favorites

(Click on images to go directly to sources.)

Along with my usual favs, I wanted to address an argument I keep seeing pop up on tech blogs (not that I regularly read tech blogs, but several people I follow on twitter have recently linked to articles on this topic)...that Flickr is no longer relevant now that Instagram is popular. I don't understand why the two sites are even being compared because they are distinctly different entities with different purposes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Instagram is for anyone with an iphone or android to upload pics of what they're doing/seeing/eating/etc.--it's about real-time sharing. Flickr, on the other hand, is more about serious photography...people experimenting with all types of cameras and editing techniques who have a real passion for the art of photography. If Flickr existed only as a social media platform, then yes, I would agree that Instagram is much more successful. But I've always viewed and used Flickr as something else entirely. What do you think?

Also, on a related topic, if you've never read this essay by Nathan Jurgenson on the rise of faux-vintage photography from a sociologist's point of view, you really should.