Experiences with Flickr?

[PhotoDabbler]

I've had a free Flickr account for nearly 15 years, and use it mainly for sharing photos on photography forums, though also as a poor man's website.
In the past the discussion parts of groups used to be very good, but the owners managed to drive away most of those who added meaningful information to those. Some of the archive technical discussions can still be very useful.

I refuse to play the social media game, so don't pay too much attention to numbers of views etc.

[CountyRd]

Please forgive if I’m courting heresy here, but a suggestion for anyone who might be using photo editing software. (I’ll cop to it: I do, chiefly, though not exclusively, for dust and scratch removal.) There are some very good free photo editors (I started out using GIMP, which was clunky but did what I needed), but they tend to lack good photo organizing / catalog tools. Enter Flickr, which lets you organize, annotate, label, etc., also for free. A good, economical combo.

Plus, there is good work to be found there.

[kilimanjaro1996]

My use case is very similar to @paulbarden, except he takes better photos than me. Flickr is an excellent place for people really interested in photography. Since I would argue big-shot pros are probably on Instagram and self-hosted website, while consumers went for Facebook and other social media (TikTok?). Flickr has a bit chill laid-back vibe to it, and you will recognize a few familiar faces after hanging out a while.

[landstrykere]

I would argue big-shot pros are probably on Instagram and self-hosted website, while consumers went for Facebook and other social media (TikTok?). Flickr has a bit chill laid-back vibe to it

probably a generational matter, as I use internet since mid-90's: there is a key difference in kind of content places. "Real" internet sites, and closed networks/sites. The so-called "social networks" are business that do encapsulate the users inside a particular commercial scheme. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc, are not by default open in the web, they are sub-universes of it, where the user is like a cattle in a farm.
Flickr is open by default (content can be restricted by setting permissions). Open, nice albums layout, generous quota for free (1000 pictures), I can't think of any equivalent.

Nothing is better than own domain name, even if content put under it is linked Flickr or whatnot albums. Immune to businesses coming and going or making drastic changes. Can cross post to whatever seasonal "social scamnet". Actually nternet itself may well split. It is partially the case, and it was never "global" anyway, but then it is not a concern to americans and/or anglospheric users, rather other populations that do multi-dimensional use of the web. In this case (americans) probably nothing better, for free, than Flickr.

[anotherguy]

Thank you, Paul, this definitely helps. I still want to have my own website, but I'll definitely invest more time in Flickr based on your suggestions.