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Chronicles

The story behind the story

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A better, brighter Flickr

In the beginning, Flickr innovated the way people share and discover photos.  Today, we are shifting the photo-sharing landscape again.  We're releasing a Flickr that's more spectacular, much bigger, and one you can take anywhere.  —  Biggr.  A free terabyte of space

Flickr Blog Markus Spiering

Context & Ripple Effects

Flickr had signaled a major makeover after removing features such as Picnik, and it had already refreshed its photo-page design in 2010. Its 2012 addition of filters was framed as an effort to catch up to Instagram; the new interface, Android app and free terabyte turn that product catch-up into a broader attempt to compete on viewing, uploading and storing photos.

First-order effects

  • Flickr users receive a redesigned, image-led service and one terabyte of free storage, lowering the practical limit on how much of a photo library they can keep on the platform.
  • Flickr expands its reach to Android while making high-resolution photo presentation central to the service experience.

Second-order effects

  • Instagram faces a more direct challenge from Flickr across both mobile photo sharing and the storage of larger image libraries, rather than chiefly in filters and social discovery.

Third-order effects

  • The relaunch points toward photo services competing as long-term media libraries as well as social feeds, with storage allowances and visual presentation becoming product-level differentiators.

The trend: Photo sharing is broadening into a contest to be the mobile-first home for users' full-resolution image archives, not merely the place where they post individual photos.

Related: Flickr · Flickr Is Getting a Major Makeover · Welcome to your new photo page

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