A little over a year ago, my all time favorite web service,
Flickr, began allowing users to share video. Immediately afterwards, photography and Flickr purists started
protesting the photo sharing site's new feature, and many lengthy flame wars raged in the user forums.
I, personally, was intrigued by the idea. There were some things that made video on Flickr a little different than most other media sharing sites. Over the past year I've been keeping my eye Flickr, and have made some observations on the pros and cons of each.
Long photos
Pros: While it's impossible to call it "a new medium," Flickr calling video a "long photo" rather than a "movie" really does change the way you look at it, and in its own way, it's kind of enlightening.
Cons: A lot of people still don't get it, and it's impossible to enforce. Stay tuned for a future blog post about long photos, and how they're different from other videos.
Video quality
Pros: Flickr features some of the best looking video on the web. Not much else I can say about this.
Cons: It only looks good if you have a computer with the horsepower to play it. My 1.5 GHz PowerBook plays these videos back at a frustrating 2 frames per second.
Time limit
Pros: One of the only real ways to enforce videos being "long photos" rather than "movies." Capping the time limit at 90 seconds keeps the majority of YouTube-esque TV clips, short films, and kids-dancing-in-their-bedroom videos off of Flickr.
Cons: Ninety seconds is still too long. I say the shorter the better. I've never seen a quality video on Flickr that had to be any longer than 20 or 30 seconds.
Membership limitations
Pros: Originally, it kept the video content on the site in the capable and dedicated hands of paying Pro members (largely made up of hardcore photographers). In March 09, Flickr began allowing standard account holders to upload two videos per month. Really, this isn't enough to have someone sign up for the sole intent of posting videos when there's scores of other sites that offer more for free.
Cons: I think I'd have been happier if Flickr had kept it locked down to Pro members, but I'm not going to complain too much.
To learn more about video on Flickr, you should check out their video FAQ page.