Flickr launches Instagram, Twitter rival
Don't call it a comeback. Flickr has been around longer than Instagram or Twitter. And now the photo-sharing site is launching an overhaul of its mobile app that has critics thrilled.
Flickr's mobile app has a new look with additional filters and photo-sharing capabilities that are similar to Instagram. And the site already has an impressive library of photos. Flickr's parent company Yahoo announced Wednesday that over 8 billion photos have been uploaded to the site to date.
Critics seem delighted with the update. Forbes contributor Eric Jackson said the redesigned Flickr app is "the best mobile photo app out there at the moment." And TechCrunch's Drew Olanoff called the app "ridiculously snappy."
Flickr was widely considered one of the hippest sites on the Internet -- home to professional photographers, hipsters and burgeoning hobbyists. The site was launched in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo in 2005. The site thrived for several years under Yahoo's stewardship. But analysts, cited by The Atlantic Wire, have suggested that the site began losing steam around 2008.
After Marissa Mayer was named CEO of Yahoo, an online movement started asking Mayer to fix Flickr. The website DearMarissaMayer.com has one simple message: "Please make Flickr awesome again."
If the critics' praises are any indication, she may have just delivered.
