Screenshots Suppressed on Flickr?
by Mike D'Anna 
Jun 15th 2006 at 10:00AM
For those of you who, like me, enjoy taking screenshots within WoW & other games to share with other people, you might just be looking for a new place to host them soon. Flickr.com, the large online image-hosting site is apparently trying to discourage users from making their site a repository for video gamegame screenshots, as per this article from Wired.com. Flickr, for its part, states that screenshots are still allowed on the site, but if more than half a users account consists of screenshots, then they will not appear in a search. The rationale behind this, in their words, is that "when people do a global search on Flickr, they want to find photos", which I can't really argue with. Even so, the sudden change in policy has upset some users, and I can see where they're coming from as well, as I use the service quite a bit myself.
Maybe someone should take this opportunity to make a site for uploading only screenshots? if you make a million on the idea, though, I want in, dammit...
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason Jun 15th 2006 12:53PM
This isn't a sudden change in Flickr's policy, it's been this way for quite a while now. I've seen it come up with people uploading screenshots of stuff on the web or design comps they've made.
One method of evading NIPSA status that's been discussed in the past is flagging any screenshots you upload as "may offend." That prevents them from showing up in broader searches. Don't know how that worked out for people, though.
Brian Arnold Jun 15th 2006 1:06PM
I understand the frustration here, but this isn't a recent policy change. Flickr has been this way since day one. It's not an image-hosting service, it's a photo-hosting service, and they've always been pretty clear about that, if you took the time to read about community photo standards and whatnot. It's admittedly some fine print, which most people don't read, but it's still there and not that hard to find.
It's the only reason I haven't dropped the $25 for a year's premium account. I currently run a personal installation of Gallery2 (http://gallery.menalto.com) and just over half is WoW screenshots, so I know I'd be excluded from public search.
It's frustrating for sure - I don't really care to maintain my own gallery anymore, but I don't want to go pushing my content out into a system that's just going to basically ignore it.
Jason Jun 15th 2006 3:01PM
Also, Multitap (http://multitap.net/) is attempting to be a photo hosting service specifically for game screenshots, but I think they have a ways to go yet.
the Brightside Jun 15th 2006 4:53PM
As has been mentioned previously, this isn't a recent change. The NIPSA stir came about somewhere between four and six months ago when a web developer blogged about how his screenshots were NIPSAed and he thought it was unfair, when Flickr's response was clearly within the defined actions of the TOS.
Now, perhaps Flickr needs to be more explicit, but there's no real grounds for complaint here. Flickr is a photography site and screenshots are not photography. The Wired article cited provides a quote from a person who has 1500 screenshots in his Flickr account and does not want them suppressed. What he's looking for is free image hosting, not a photography site, and this runs counter to Flickr's business--as well as the interests of the established Flickr community. (I have a Flickr account, have since before it was grabbed by Yahoo, so I'm not just blowing smoke.
In this case, while it is exclusionary by definition, I don't think it's unfair to tell these people that Flickr is not what they're looking for. I'm sure WOWInsider's moderation system would eliminate comments I post that are blatantly spammy or offensive, and if you do so, I have no grounds to bitch about your unfair tactics. As someone on Slashdot said, it's your house, I should play by your rules, or I should find a forum more receptive to my whims.