Which Photo-Sharing Site Do You Use?
By Brian Auer • September 12th, 2007After evaluating the results from my first PhotoDump, I’m now curious about the popularity difference between Flickr and Zooomr among photography enthusiasts such as you and I. I use both sites because they are basically the same, but each offers different perks. Flickr has a large user base, tons of groups and photo pools, and a very good photo organizer. Zooomr is much newer and feels similar to Flickr in it’s base functions, but it seems to be aimed more directly at photography enthusiasts than those looking to share photos with friends and family. Zooomr also has a few unique functions over Flickr such as Ziplines and Smart Sets.
So are you a Flickr or a Zooomr? Or do you use both photo-sharing sites? Maybe you use something else? Or maybe you haven’t gotten on-board yet.
And check the results of last week’s poll on “When is it OK to Take Photos of Strangers?” The majority says that it depends on the situation, there were a few of us who ventured out to say that it’s always OK, and only one said it’s never OK.
Brian Auer is a photography enthusiast from San Diego, California. He's also the guy behind the Epic Edits Weblog. As a hobbyist photographer since 2003, his passion has been to constantly improve his photography skill set, to share his own knowledge with others, and to become an integral part of the photographic community.
Visit the author's homepage | View all Epic Edits posts by Brian Auer
I use both, though I have only recently joined Zoomr after seeing it on your website.
While initially I was excited about the free-for-end-user aspect of Zoomr, with the unlimited upload capabilities, I am finding it hard to switch entirely from Flickr.
Sure, I enjoy the Zipline of Zoomr function, though with almost no contacts what purpose does it serve? Comparing this with Flickr’s easy to access data base of everyones photo’s, I find that Flickr wins hands down as it is much easier to make new contacts and discover new sources of inspiration.
It may be possible to do this with Zoomr in time, though I find the user interface is less inviting than Flickr’s.
While Zoomr might be useful, (as you say), for sharing photos primarily with family and friends, as a budding hobby photographer I find that the wealth of “pro” caliber photographers means that I am being exposed to a huge range of information, advice and critique. Granted this might come in time with Zoomr, though I think that Flickr has captured the serious end of the market with online photography primarily because of the structure of the site - users are encouraged to upgrade their accounts so that they can have a pro style user face with multiple sets, emulating studio productions.
Conclusion? I think I’ll use Flickr for my “serious” photos - those I’m proud of and want to show off and receive advice on from the photography community, while I’ll reserve Zoomr for sharing photos with family and friends (who I’m going to start encouraging to join).
I’ll still post my art style photos to Zoomr, though without feeling the restrictions of having a free Flickr account, (and not a pro version - I’d like one, but family responsibilities at this stage mean it will have to wait for a bit). I will be uploading more photos to Zoomr that may not have that “edge” to them but that are still good, as I won’t feel tied down by only being able to display 200 photos in my account as is the case with Flickr.
I agree with you that Flickr is still way ahead in it’s user-base and user interface. But I actually get the feeling that Zooomr users are a bit more serious about their photography than Flickr users, when looking at the entire population. Don’t get me wrong — Flickr has some absolutely talented artists with amazing photos, but it seems like a larger percentage of Zooomr users are really “into” photography (at least the ones that I’ve encountered). And maybe this is due to the difference in population size.
Either way, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to use both sites. Most of my contacts from each site are exclusive to that site, so I get to see twice as many photos and interact with twice as many people.
Hello Brian,
After reading this post I’m curious about Zoomr.I would like to try it. I use Flickr now, although not very frequently. By the way, I have finally bought the SLR equipment, I have been dreaming of for several months, and this includes a Macro lens. Do please check some of my pictures on my blog.
Definitely check it out — it has a much different feel to it than Flickr, and there’s a whole different set of people to interact with.
Congrats on the new equipment! The macro was a good choice, and you’ll have lots of fun with it. My 105mm macro is my favorite lens to shoot with — and not just for macro work.
I’ve used Flickr exclusively, but I may have to give Zoomr a look. I’ve taken my photography in a different direction, and started submitting some of my best shots to stock photography websites, for sale to the public. The pictures they refuse, I load on my Flickr site.
I have to place my vote with OTHER… I don’t like the limits Flickr sets on their free account, and Zooomr took a step backwards with their latest “upgrades” that seem to be completely unreliable… For basic hosting, I’d keep it simple with tinypic.com….For sharing, I like Pixamo.com