Flickr goes creative for SOPA blackout (opens in new tab)

(techcrunch.com)

109 pointsrometest14y ago32 comments

32 comments

The approach is particularly creative: drive home the feeling of censorship by allowing some users to "censor" other users.

artursapek14y ago

I wish they had followed through strongly on this. There's a hard-to-miss link that lets you opt-out of having your photos censored, and if you're visiting a blacked-out photo flickr gives the anti-PIPA spiel and presents a button to "show it anyway." If they were trying to demonstrate what SOPA/PIPA would make the internet like, shouldn't they just bite the bullet and make these photo black-outs permanent for a day? The idea is great but its implementation is pretty weak, it won't actually get people worked up.

gfodor14y ago

The goal isn't really to get people "worked up", it's to raise awareness. You've completely missed the point, and Flickr's method is brilliant because it brings intuition to the impact of what SOPA may actually do.

artursapek14y ago

But if the demonstration is just for a day, why does it still have to be so wishy-washy? It's imaginary. People would take it more seriously if it was really out of their control.

goatforce514y ago

Seems to be having exactly the desired effect:

"Hey @flickr, if you want to let members blackout their own photos as a protest, great. Letting anyone blackout anyone else's photo? Stupid."

https://twitter.com/#!/fraying/statuses/159702033971150848

fraying == Derek Powazek == someone with close connections to Flickr who, besides that, is a really super smart guy who i'd assume would have got what they were trying to do.

smackfu14y ago

You better not darken my photos if I'm paying for the service.

deanproxy14y ago

Just think how you'll feel if the SOPA or PIPA bills pass and there is no "Show my website anyway" button... 'Cause you can say that all you want, but if one of these bills pass and if the idiots deem it necessary, your content will get "darkened" regardless of how much money you paid to host it somewhere (maybe not the same way flickr is doing it, but still... to the same point).

I think everyones photos shouldn't be exempt, including the whitehouse photos! This is just a small taste of what is possible.

1 more reply

belthesar14y ago

Pro members are not exempt from the blackout.

brlewis14y ago

"Update 9:27am January 18, 2012: We removed the 10 limit, you can darken to your dark heart’s dark desire."

http://blog.flickr.net/en/2012/01/18/pipa-sopa/

ggchappell14y ago

All these positive comments are surprising. I find this to be a very bad idea. Flickr is a service (unlike HN) that some people depend on, and that some people pay for. So Flickr is saying that, even if I pay for their service, they might deny it to me, at the whims of other users?

Flickr is showing themselves to be untrustworthy -- and possibly in breach of contract. I would suggest not relying on them.

khwang14y ago

Isn't there an opt-out mechanism so that your photos won't be darkened? I assume they put this in here because there are professional photographers on the site.

ggchappell14y ago

Well, that's nice. But still, having told them I want a service, and having paid for it, I am now required to notify them that I still want to get the service that I already paid them for?

1 more reply

yuhong14y ago

Yea, read the entire article please!

maurits14y ago

To bad the Whitehouse photo-stream is exempted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/

ascuttlefish14y ago

The photos are darkened for me.

maurits14y ago

Interesting, I am not in the US, so perhaps that is the reason. Slightly odd though, because I can darken and see darken pictures in other streams.

evan_14y ago

Must've been a temporary mistake. The whitehouse's flickr account is definitely opted-out. None of their photos are darkened.

1 more reply

rbanffy14y ago

My biggest complaint is that it's not easy to automate blacking out every photo of every SOPA supporter.

It is, but it involves YQL, API keys and more time than I want to dedicate.

akadien14y ago

I like this feature.

I changed my Gravatar, g+, and FB images to black squares today to solicit whys from my networks.

ceejayoz14y ago

The wording on this was confusing enough that I thought Flickr was claiming I'd opted-in to black out my photos.

maeon314y ago

We are no doubt pissing off Congress to no end. I wonder what the approval rating of Congress will become after this stunt? 5%? 2%?

jarek14y ago

Do you really think 95% of the population either already disapproves of the Congress or has been on the internet today and ran into a darkened site and thought about the issue?

Natsu14y ago

Congressional support is something like 13.3% with 83% disapproval.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/congressional_...

HuffPo has a funny take on that, saying that more people approve of "Porn, Polygamy, BP Oil Spill, 'U.S. Going Communist'" than of Congress.

So no it's probably not unreasonable to suppose that somewhat less than half (12/27) of the ~27% people who approve of or are neutral to Congress saw a darkened site and thought about the issue. I know that I got questioned about it at work by the less technical folks.

evan_14y ago

Yeah, those Congressmen are all trying to read Reddit and Flickr and shaking their fists at us all!

No, I don't see that happening.

hvs14y ago

I'm pretty sure he meant that all of these sites drawing attention to SOPA and PIPA are upsetting Congress. Not that they were trying to get to Reddit.

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32 comments

mcherm14y ago

The approach is particularly creative: drive home the feeling of censorship by allowing some users to "censor" other users.

artursapek14y ago

gfodor14y ago

artursapek14y ago

But if the demonstration is just for a day, why does it still have to be so wishy-washy? It's imaginary. People would take it more seriously if it was really out of their control.

goatforce514y ago

Seems to be having exactly the desired effect:

"Hey @flickr, if you want to let members blackout their own photos as a protest, great. Letting anyone blackout anyone else's photo? Stupid."

https://twitter.com/#!/fraying/statuses/159702033971150848

fraying == Derek Powazek == someone with close connections to Flickr who, besides that, is a really super smart guy who i'd assume would have got what they were trying to do.

smackfu14y ago

You better not darken my photos if I'm paying for the service.

deanproxy14y ago

I think everyones photos shouldn't be exempt, including the whitehouse photos! This is just a small taste of what is possible.

1 more reply

belthesar14y ago

Pro members are not exempt from the blackout.

brlewis14y ago

"Update 9:27am January 18, 2012: We removed the 10 limit, you can darken to your dark heart’s dark desire."

http://blog.flickr.net/en/2012/01/18/pipa-sopa/

ggchappell14y ago

Flickr is showing themselves to be untrustworthy -- and possibly in breach of contract. I would suggest not relying on them.

khwang14y ago

Isn't there an opt-out mechanism so that your photos won't be darkened? I assume they put this in here because there are professional photographers on the site.

ggchappell14y ago

Well, that's nice. But still, having told them I want a service, and having paid for it, I am now required to notify them that I still want to get the service that I already paid them for?

1 more reply

yuhong14y ago

Yea, read the entire article please!

maurits14y ago

To bad the Whitehouse photo-stream is exempted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/

ascuttlefish14y ago

The photos are darkened for me.

maurits14y ago

Interesting, I am not in the US, so perhaps that is the reason. Slightly odd though, because I can darken and see darken pictures in other streams.

evan_14y ago

Must've been a temporary mistake. The whitehouse's flickr account is definitely opted-out. None of their photos are darkened.

1 more reply

rbanffy14y ago

My biggest complaint is that it's not easy to automate blacking out every photo of every SOPA supporter.

It is, but it involves YQL, API keys and more time than I want to dedicate.

akadien14y ago

I like this feature.

I changed my Gravatar, g+, and FB images to black squares today to solicit whys from my networks.

ceejayoz14y ago

The wording on this was confusing enough that I thought Flickr was claiming I'd opted-in to black out my photos.

maeon314y ago

We are no doubt pissing off Congress to no end. I wonder what the approval rating of Congress will become after this stunt? 5%? 2%?

jarek14y ago

Do you really think 95% of the population either already disapproves of the Congress or has been on the internet today and ran into a darkened site and thought about the issue?

Natsu14y ago

Congressional support is something like 13.3% with 83% disapproval.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/congressional_...

HuffPo has a funny take on that, saying that more people approve of "Porn, Polygamy, BP Oil Spill, 'U.S. Going Communist'" than of Congress.

evan_14y ago

Yeah, those Congressmen are all trying to read Reddit and Flickr and shaking their fists at us all!

No, I don't see that happening.

hvs14y ago

I'm pretty sure he meant that all of these sites drawing attention to SOPA and PIPA are upsetting Congress. Not that they were trying to get to Reddit.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse