[smigol]

A nice benefit of actually following people on flickr is that they're starting to offer suggestions. I've found some really nice work this way. Some are inspiring, others are simply neat. It's changed my opinion about clicking the follow button - now I do it more often.

[CreationBear]

probably fake accounts

You Tube

You Tube

[Tas]

either empty photostreams or photostreams/fave lists with shady content or exclusively self-promotional selfies

I've been on Flickr since 2008, and over the years have somehow accumulated over 700 followers. A small number of these are people I know directly or from online. I usually don't get too fussed about followers, though I do check each one and if I thought they were a bit suss I'd give it a week or so then block them. If they're adding lots of people to their follow list they probably won't miss one dropping off, and too bad if they do as I would remove them then block them.

One thing I do as a part of regular monitoring of activitiy on my stream is to monitor the faves added to an image and if a person has no images at all I just block them. If they're a brand new member to Flickr I tend to give them a month then either disregard them if they've started adding images or block them if there's still no images posted.

A more recent trend you and another member have mentioned only started in the last couple of months. I get a fave from an attractive young lady who only has a small amount of suggestive non-nude images and a link to a website. This is obviously marketing or a straight up scam, so they just get blocked. I think you can report problems to the admin staff but I don't think it will stop them altogether.

The reality of Flickr is you have to assume that along the way your images can be taken (this has happened to me) so I don't post large and do the monitoring that I do as a token effort to try and avoid others taking advantage. Because I post to the internet I know I can't stop it so I don't get too wound up, however my circumstances are different to yours so I understand your concerns.

As THoog has suggested if you want to manage your images you can do this by choosing which of your followers are family and friends and use that category for photos you want to share with those people and not the broader commuity. This is an easy change to do so you can post public images as well as images only for friends/family and change it as you need to.

Tas

[awscreo]

Is there any way to search if your image been used without your permission? I have close to 500 followers on Flickr, but never thought that could be an issue

[Tas]

Is there any way to search if your image been used without your permission? I have close to 500 followers on Flickr, but never thought that could be an issue

Having 500 followers is no indication that your images are being stolen, however if you're posting anything to the web you have to do so with the expectation that someone can take or exploit that which you've posted.

So far as stolen images go, this website has info on US copyright law infringement actions for stolen/misued images: PictureDefense There are steps to guide you for managing the problem on various platforms. It's a website well worth bookmarking IMHO etc.

The same website has a series of links that might help you search for images taken here: PictureDefense: Links!

There used to be a Flickr group that linked to this site but I left it when it closed down a few years ago. None of this necessarily helps if an image is stolen, but it can guide you on how best to try and prevent image theft or deal with the issue if it arises.

Hope this info is of assistance.


Tas

Oh, something else to try is to Google 'images' and your Flickr user name. It can be an interesting experience to see who is linking back to your images. If they're not links to what you posted on Flickr and you have all rights reserved, then technically the website has breached to terms of service for Flickr images and you can choose to do nothing or proceed with action to recive compensation for your work or demand a take down.

[awscreo]

Having 500 followers is no indication that your images are being stolen, however if you're posting anything to the web you have to do so with the expectation that someone can take or exploit that which you've posted.

So far as stolen images go, this website has info on US copyright law infringement actions for stolen/misued images: PictureDefense There are steps to guide you for managing the problem on various platforms. It's a website well worth bookmarking IMHO etc.

The same website has a series of links that might help you search for images taken here: PictureDefense: Links!

There used to be a Flickr group that linked to this site but I left it when it closed down a few years ago. None of this necessarily helps if an image is stolen, but it can guide you on how best to try and prevent image theft or deal with the issue if it arises.

Hope this info is of assistance.


Tas

Oh, something else to try is to Google 'images' and your Flickr user name. It can be an interesting experience to see who is linking back to your images. If they're not links to what you posted on Flickr and you have all rights reserved, then technically the website has breached to terms of service for Flickr images and you can choose to do nothing or proceed with action to recive compensation for your work or demand a take down.

Not saying 500 followers guarantees images being stolen, I just never thought of a possibility. I am a bit worried about a recent pic I took though. It's technically not spectacular, but it has local significance in my area and had quite a bit of traction on facebook (local groups sharing etc), I'm afraid someone might try to print it and sell postcards or whatnot, even though fb compression pretty much destroys IQ.

[normhead]

Recently I have noticed also something else on flickr... I am receiving occasionally faves from probably fake accounts and when I am looking at the profile they are always pretty girls who wants to have sex!

Go figure!

I'm seeing the same thing on other sites. After all, pretty girls who want to have sex have to get along somehow... they are people too.

[timb64]

Oh, something else to try is to Google 'images' and your Flickr user name. It can be an interesting experience to see who is linking back to your images. If they're not links to what you posted on Flickr and you have all rights reserved, then technically the website has breached to terms of service for Flickr images and you can choose to do nothing or proceed with action to recive compensation for your work or demand a take down.

Just tried this form of googlebating and it turned up lots of my pics on Flickr Hive Mind and Flickriver.Anyone know anything about these sites?

[micromacro]

Sometimes people follow because they simply like your stuff.

I always thought that's the main purpose of following. Or to get updated information from the people whose work I like. I follow people not only from this forum, or Pentaxians. Often I search tags either by subject, or by lens, it depends. I also search groups. If I find someone really interesting, I follow. It's not like befriending someone, no need to send a private message, like, hey, I'm following you now. That would be awkward. )))

[THoog]

Just tried this form of googlebating and it turned up lots of my pics on Flickr Hive Mind and Flickriver.Anyone know anything about these sites?

They are 3rd-party flickr image search / viewer sites. They aren't part of flickr, but link to the original images via the flickr API. It isn't copies of the images, just links to the originals.

[timb64]

They are 3rd-party flickr image search / viewer sites. They aren't part of flickr, but link to the original images via the flickr API. It isn't copies of the images, just links to the originals.

OK,thanks.

[stevebrot]

there are a handful that I'll watch their pages due to the amazing work they post/share, but those are just a few....

Same here.


Steve

[normhead]

I just can't get into the whole thing. I do appreciate the parade of amazing images when I open flickr up. Maybe Pentax forum should have an equivalent.

[BrianR]

Most of the people I 'follow' are from here or people I know in real life (it's pretty popular with a local camera club). There are a handful of people I randomly found and thought were interesting enough that I wanted to see their feed on an ongoing basis.

I'm not too worried about legitimate accounts that go around following everyone out there. If they have tens of thousands of followers there's a good bet they are running a bot to try to game the system (for the fame and riches that will result). I usually look through their stream and if I genuinely love their stuff, I'll follow back (very rare), but will usually comment on anything I find interesting enough to stop at for more than 5 seconds. Gotta keep their bot happy for when the robot revolution comes.

Recently I have noticed also something else on flickr... I am receiving occasionally faves from probably fake accounts and when I am looking at the profile they are always pretty girls who wants to have sex!

Go figure!

Last favourite I had was from a young lass who "just loves to cook naked". In other words she's either a serious masochist or she never cooks bacon. Either is big turn off.

These types of 'favourites' are pretty common, from a profile with a stream with 5 or 6 photos of a scantily clad lady with a link to a sketchy website in the description. These profiles usually vanish in a few days, or a few hours if you hit the "flag" button on one of the photos.

[boriscleto]

I was going to say I've never had one of these mysterious 'followers', but then yesterday...

"Christina Bell", but has a .ru email address...

Christina Bell | Flickr