Dear Flickr friends,

It goes without saying that 2020 was a year unlike any other. In the leadup to this year, the Flickr community told us…

Flickr is about discovery, not popularity; it’s about permanence, not the ephemeral; and it’s about community, not influence. Put simply, Flickr is about photography, not photos.

And while the pandemic may have changed where we all worked from, and it may have found us embracing our own personal Flickr-at-Home, it didn’t stop us from pursuing that vision. In 2020, we set out to boost engagement, foster the community spirit that makes Flickr unique, and bring in revenue so it could be reinvested into the product experience.

We’re excited to share that we made great strides toward meeting those goals. So, without any further ado, here’s a recap of 2020 in our eyes:

Product Improvements:

• The algorithm that powers Explore got a major upgrade, improving the range of subjects and photographers reflected there.
• The Flickr activity feed got a refresh, giving you more control over how you browse through the content you find interesting, while also bringing forward Explore, news from the Flickr blog, and more places to learn about all that’s happening on Flickr.
• Group admin tools got some love with several changes to make curating Flickr groups a whole lot easier.
• The maps imagery received some beautiful updates from our switch to Mapbox.
• Support for sharing from Flickr to other services saw huge improvements. Photostreams, faves, groups, Explore, and more now surface image previews (and sometimes slideshows) when shared outside of Flickr.
• Structured data updates make sure that license information for your photos is surfaced in Google search results.
• Within the Flickr mobile apps, you can now create a Flickr account, upgrade to Flickr Pro and access your Pro Perks.
• Important work was done on the payments processing front to ensure that we have a seamless payment experience for Flickr Pro members and for people purchasing prints.
• Rolled out a new photo editor to address some long-standing bugs.
• Collection mosaics and the Trending Tags – Now section are up and running again!
• Our Product, Design, and Research teams conducted lots of surveys and A/B tests to better understand how Flickr members and people unfamiliar with Flickr appreciate photos and interpret different icons. More to come from the awesome learnings soon.
• In addition to everything listed above, our team also worked around the clock to monitor and improve Flickr’s overall stability. This is one area where we hope you didn’t notice a thing!

Community Focus:

• Launched a regular monthly email newsletter that shares what’s happening in the Flickr community.
• Compiled a list of resources, grants, and funds that aim to aid photographers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Offered a free PRO membership to members who are documenting the Black Lives Matter movement. To date, we’ve awarded this to almost 100 Flickr members.
• Had over 7,600 Flickr members participate in the “Shine a Light” contest that we hosted with FUJIFILM.
• Introduced 11 new Flickr Pro Perks –– each offering discounts on amazing classes and learning opportunities with photographers and SmugMug ambassadors like Bella Kotak, Michael Shainblum, and more.
• Talked about the power of Explore. From curating Explore takeovers to highlight the work of our community such as the documentation of the Black Lives Matter movement to celebrating Flickr’s instant photography and Inktober communities to answering some of your questions about Explore and celebrated the photographers that have been featured so far this year.
• Collaborated with the Library of Congress on an open call to share photography that highlights the experience of going through the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Attended the Creative Commons Virtual Summit and hosted a talk with Sebastiaan ter Burg about Creative Commons licensing.
• Introduced four new Flickr Short Films that share the stories of Flickr members and premiered Flickr FAQs –– a series that will address frequently asked questions about using Flickr.
• We delivered on our promise to bring on a spectacular leader for the Community team to focus on these initiatives that celebrate Flickr’s members and their amazing photography.
• And, we’re closing out the year with Your Best Shot, Your Worst Shot, and Year in Review! Be sure to check these out if you haven’t already.

Support Heroes Update:

• Increased member satisfaction from 89% to 92%. Our 2021 goal is to achieve greater than 94% satisfaction.
• Delivered on the promise of Premier Support for Flickr Pro members, providing a median response time of less than 2 hours. Free members frequently received a response in less than 24 hours, and we always respond to 100% of support requests received.
• Updated and published 99 help center articles to put everything you need to know about Flickr front and center!
• Worked with the Flickr Community team to launch new help forum guidelines to make sure that everyone who visits the help forum is met with a friendly and constructive environment in which to seek help from the community.
• Invested heavily in learning and development such as training Support Heroes throughout the year on Flickr product, photography, and customer service skills.

We’ll be following up in a few weeks to discuss our goals and areas of focus for 2021. Thank you for helping us make Flickr the vibrant community that it is!