The greatest trick the FIC ever pulled was convincing the world they didn’t exist.
The controversy over the Flickr redesign has revealed some very FIC like behaviour, that is if you believe the FIC exist. A discussion on what exactly the Feted Inner Core means can be found here at SLUniverse.
One of the feedback threads on the new redesign got a bit messy with accusations of paid shills and Flickr staff alts posting supportive feedback, you see this sort of thing happens on all forums and Flickr and Second Life forums are rather tame compared to other places, but wild conspiracy theories can rear their heads on both forums. As things got heated, Flickr staff updated the main post with:
“Since a select few in this thread seem to be having a tinfoil hat day, I want to emphasize that all posts by Flickr staff are clearly identified as such by a gray background and the staff tag underneath the buddy icon.
Flickr staff does not use alter egos to post. Even if there are many knowledgeable Flickr members that are willing to help by responding to questions and feedback, none of them are “Flickr staff in disguise”. Please treat each other respectfully.”
Some took umbrage at the tinfoil hat swipe, personally I found it amusing and if people are going to give Flickr stick over the redesign it’s only fair that Flickr staff can poke back at times. That should have been that, but a twist emerged when pictures emerged from a Flickr meetup in San Francisco, just prior to the rollout of the new site. Some of the most vociferous supporters of the changes are seen in the pictures….. oooh!
However that’s not all, some of them were certainly there by invitation from Flickr, although there’s no suggestion that Flickr paid for the trip.
One member, who features in the photos revealed:
“Did Flickr invite a few members out to check out the new design? Yes.
Did Flickr pay Us? No!
Did We have a good time? Yes!
Are We being paid to backup Flickr and the new design? Hell No!!”
The tinfoil hat brigade certainly have some ammunition now, although they have largely held their fire. However it does make the comment about the tinfoil hat brigade from Flickr staff look a tad silly. The reality is likely to be that people who go to Flickr meetups are extremely protective of the site, want it to prosper and have a great affinity for Flickr. Whereas they will be critical, they probably save that criticism for more secluded confines.
There are supportive voices regarding the Flickr redesign from people who did not attend the Flickr meetup, so it’s not as if it’s only those who attended the meetup who are cheering on the changes, but those who did attend, certainly seem to cheer loudly, Flickr seem to have played a decent hand there.
Personally, I still think the redesign is awful and I still think Flickr will end up merging with Tumblr, but then again I have to go and get my tinfoil hat sized up!
FlyButtafly and company are weirdo Tea Party supporters too. Flickr seems to understand who likes the KoolAid best.
Ah well not my sort of politics but if that’s what they like then fair play to them.
I’m still bemused as to why even fans of the redesign seem to be so firmly behind Flickr’s no chance of older style customisation. That wouldn’t hurt them, but would help a lot of others who are struggling with the site, it’s a win win really.