This post is based on an answer I provided in a discussion about Flickr's layout change:

There are some alternatives and to Flickr right now. Some are well known, others not. Here I list some of them:

http://www.ipernity.com

http://www.redbubble.com

http://www.zooomr.com

http://picasaweb.google.com

http://www.fotki.com

http://www.smugmug.com

http://photobucket.com/

http://www.panoramio.com

http://www.facebook.com ?????

http://www.snapixel.com

I'm sure there are other similar projects, but I have the experience of having left Flickr for serveral months some time ago and I'd like to share some thoughts with you all becasue I had to go back to Flickr.

I've been in Flickr since almost the beginning of this project and have been through many changes including the adquisition of it by Yahoo! several years ago.

Some changes I've found great, others not. I believe there are more important reasons to leave Flickr than the change of display, but yet, at the same time, there are very powerful reasons to consider not to leave this platform and here's my experience:

I did leave Flickr not because displays changes, but because some politics involved regards moderation and the worst form of it, self-moderation (or self censorship, call it what you wish) so went back to check how zooomr.com was doing. Actually I'm using this platform in paralell, uploading almost the same pictures to Flickr and Zooomr.

The problem with Zooomr is the slowliness to change, to open the pro-accounts and the integration with Zest and this is hardly anything but a hype. Was promissing, but after some testing, it ended looking quite umconfortable and trying to force the merge of different worlds. Still Zooomr is now the closest system to Flickr's original phillosophy, but is failing to innovate and iterate. Instead is quite complicated to perform really simple things, like grouping, sets, etc. The good is that uses CC licenses, the original reason I choosed Flickr in the first place.

I also found Snapixel that seems to be more like a pure clone of Flickr and also supports CC in the system, and being this a difference with other platforms. But being so similar, and fearing it could have the same self-moderation politics I asked them about this self moderation stuff and never got an answer, so I gave up quite early.

If I had to change to a better system, it would be the one that effectively would engage me through support, and haven't happened yet. Well, actually I gathered some mails with Flickr staff to clarify me the moderation politics that were not stated in the page at that time at least.

So, why did I come back?

As said, the main reason had to deal with my job, so had to be here and most probably will be for quite a while.

The other reason is that I don't really have the time to move all my images from a site to another and it's not possible to keep all the comments people have made and that I have made. That is the first key. The site is not as important as the long lasting relevant relationships you would lose if you move.

The third is that until today, Flickr keeps being the best system to share images. I believe it beats Picasa (by Google) and others. Facebook is simply no match, and doesn't intend to be. It's not it's focus.

The fourth is that Flickr has the largest most active community and that's the other key here. Yes, they might lose some users when changing some layouts and features, but not too many. There is no other platform able to gather at the same time the contacts you have now.

It this frustrating? Yes, in some way so is the whole Internet, the private social media sites and is so because the lack of stantardized protocols to keep the information, the work you perform in them, with you wherever you might go. And this, IMHO, hinders competition.