Flickr is one of the recent big web success stories. It's a photo sharing site with a great UI and great community tools. Antenna has some interesting thoughts on what makes it so popular:
I’ve been trying for a week or so to figure out what flickr is. I mean I know it’s a photo sharing site, but what makes it so damn interesting? Then, last night, I finally figured it out: flickr is a MMORPG.

Really, it should have been obvious, since the site is literally a MMORPG (it’s built on the old Game Neverending code, which is why you’ll see files ending in .gne on flickr). And Ludicorp says as much on their homepage (“Groupware for Play. We’re building a better platform for real time interaction online.”), but for some reason I was tricked into thinking it was more like iPhoto crossed with Friendster than Ultima Online.
I'm not sure this idea works out perfectly, but that doesn't mean it isn't valuable. Thinking about web apps as games is very important. These things should be fun.
- jim 12-31-2004 1:33 am




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