Web 2.0: Principles and Best Practices

3.2. Web 2.0 Profile Flickr.com

Flickr is a web site for digital photo storage, sharing, and organization. Compared to earlier generations of photo sites, such as Shutterfly and Ofoto, which focused on photo-finishing services like making prints, Flickr instead provides a photo-sharing context and community.

Ludicorp, a Vancouver-based company founded in 2002, launched the Flickr service in early 2004, and was acquired by Yahoo! in March 2005. As of February 2006, more than 2 million registered users had uploaded at least 100 million photos. During its first 18 months of service, Flickr capitalized on—and in many cases defined—the best practices of this era, and symbolizing a new generation of companies born with Web 2.0 in their genes.

Flickr's business model builds on multiple revenue streams:

• Subscription-based premium accounts

• Advertising

• Complementary photo services: photo finishing, DVD creation, calendars, etc.

Flickr capitalized on a powerful combination of business, social and technological drivers: high-speed broadband, the rise of digital cameras and camera phones, low-cost infrastructure (especially storage and bandwidth), blogs and social networking, and syndication via RSS.

3.2.1.

3.2.1.1. Flickr.com Profile by Web 2.0 Pattern

1. Harnessing Collective Intelligence

Flickr's fundamental function is giving individuals a simple, low-cost way to store and retrieve photos online. In so doing, it pays customers first by giving immediate value with minimal barriers to adoption. ...