Flickr as a MMOG (Just Bru)

Flickr as a MMOG0

Posted by Bru December 28, 2004 1:24 PM

While bloghopping this morning, I found, via A Whole Lotta Nothing, this article about the nature of flickr:

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.

It's definitely quite original, and imho utterly correct.
As a sidenote, chances are this comment of mine won't be so original, since at this time the popdex rate of this article is second only to links related to the earthquake, the MN2004 risk, and Reggie White's death. Going back to antenna's article, what really interested me is that, in trying to explain the success of flickr vs other YASNs, rather than giving the old “flickr and del.icio.us give us a new funny way to do things that we already did” swing that we all know and love (for example, see here for a great discussion about this topic), focuses instead on the fact that flickr's ui offers us a gaming backbone:

It presents a primary “plot” (upload photos and look at other people’s photos). This backbone gives users an immediate sense of the “story” of the site. But this central narrative exists in a space which allows for relatively freeform interaction, and the UI also helps nudge users off the main path with teasers like “Do you have a Cameraphone? Learn how to send photos to Flickr.” Like a video game, there’s a sense of progressive disclosure.

Indeed that goes pretty against my old motto about web designs, that sounds like “I want it all and I want it now!”... but he's got a point: this kind of designs have a charme.
It's got the same magic as DeviantArt, but with a far more friendly UI. You get teased to what you like, and if you get lost or can't find what you're looking for, there's always the small sitemap at the bottom of the page to cheat through!

Maybe it's time to go back to some emotional design ;)
By the way, today I learnt something.