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Last time I tried to use Flickr was when they upped (or removed?) their storage limit and I was looking for a way to move several old hard drives worth of photo

Last time I tried to use Flickr was when they upped (or removed?) their storage limit and I was looking for a way to move several old hard drives worth of photos to the cloud. I couldn't even sign up for a yahoo account because they required a mobile number. Am I the only one without one? I have to imagine they are missing out on a large chunk of people by requiring that but maybe not since Microsoft is the same way when you sign up for Azure. Just tried again and they still require a valid mobile number (not google voice or skype).

tommoor 9y ago
People that have an internet connection but no phone number? I think you're in the minority of the minority there.
- dom0 9y ago
  mobile
- detaro 9y ago
  Have none? Probably not that many (although Flickr probably is comparatively interesting for a large part of that demographic). Willing to share with a random service on the other hand...
  - criley2 9y ago
    It's a security measure which protects the unlimited storage feature, among other things. What if someone wants to use random burner accounts to store gigabytes of child pornography? That's a lot harder to achieve if they have to buy a burner mobile phone for each account, and each burner phone has the potential to be tracked to the point of sale to use video and other techniques to catch the predator. Mobile number verification is a very cheap and powerful way to cut out the vast majority of bad actors.
    - bigbugbag 9y ago
      Phone number requirements is a very effective tool of surveillance and surveillance capitalism but it's also incredibly effective at keeping potential users out of your business. Have a look at the popularity of online services providing phone numbers for verification purpose.
      - criley2 9y ago
        "Have a look at the popularity of online services providing phone numbers for verification purpose." Sure. Let's see, Facebook requires phone number verification: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-net... Facebook is #1 most popular social network. Okay, WhatsApp is #2 service: Requires Phone Number verification Youtube, #3: No phone number verification, service is full of fake accounts, trolling, bigotry, and state propaganda and is seen as one of the worst communities in internet history #4: Facebook Messenger: Phone Number Verification #5: WeChat: Phone Number Verification #6: QQ: Optional phone verification, but operated under am authoritarian government which strictly regulates user bases, use of networks, messages made, etc. (AKA they hire armies of people to manually monitor and police the service) Perhaps I'm failing to see your point...?
- dorkygator 9y ago
  yahoo doesn't accept voip numbers for signup. I moved my mobile number to a voip provider and got a data only plan because it is way cheaper. I have hit a few roadblocks here and there, but end up saving 50% on my phone bill.
- iamthepieman 9y ago
  I have a phone number, just not a "mobile" one or whatever that means to yahoo's verification setup.
  - rocky1138 9y ago
    Many telephone companies will read texts aloud if sent to a landline number. Sometimes I text my parents that way.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  I'm pretty sure the majority on the planet does not have a phone number. Anyways do you think it is a sound business practice to refuse minorities because they are minorities ? Long tail says otherwise. After a few years of having my own internet access I got rid of the now irrelevant phone number, in the recent years it started to become a requirement for surveillance capitalism reasons and services that provide phone numbers for registration or verification started popping up right and left.
  - upvotinglurker 9y ago
    "[World Bank] Report Says 75 Percent Of World's Population Have Mobile Phones" http://www.rferl.org/a/report-says-75-percent-of-worlds-population-have-mobile-phones/24648234.html http://www.rferl.org/a/report-says-75-percent-of-worlds-popu...
probably_wrong 9y ago
I have a Flickr account without a phone number, but I've had it for a long time. It's the same with GMail, though, so it's hardly a Yahoo thing.
wvenable 9y ago
It doesn't matter if you're not the only one. Somebody did the math and determined that people without mobile numbers weren't worth the support cost. It sucks to be the wrong side of that math but it happens to a lot of people for a lot of different things. Developers tend to try and include everyone but that is often a mistake -- the benefit rarely outweighs the cost.
- fwn 9y ago
  > Somebody did the math and determined that people without mobile numbers weren't worth the support cost. While I'd normally agree I'm not sure that Yahoos decision making process should be the role model regarding optimizing user growth. Their lack of users was not a minor issue.
- iamthepieman 9y ago
  Based on this article and the general decline of Flickr's userbase I think it's clear that the math was wrong.
  - wvenable 9y ago
    I highly doubt requiring mobile numbers was the flaw here.
    - bigbugbag 9y ago
      Requiring mobile numbers is still a flaw. Calculation is "make mobile phone number optional and have most of the users refuse to give it away because they know better and miss profit opportunity or make it mandatory and risk having a few fringe users use worthless numbers", so optimal profit per user is the chosen way when the company is driven by maximizing their own profit (actually shareholders) and do not care about people, communities and such.
jandrese 9y ago
Did you try putting a landline phone number in? Many times they'll check their database and see that it is a landline and use an automated call system instead of a text. Just don't be on a VOIP connection because that's what spammers use.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  My landline provider is using VoIP and has been for a decade. The good news is that it protects me from having a yahoo, google, facebook or any other accounts with stupid requirements to feed surveillance capitalism.

tommoor 9y ago

People that have an internet connection but no phone number? I think you're in the minority of the minority there.

dom0 9y ago
mobile
detaro 9y ago
Have none? Probably not that many (although Flickr probably is comparatively interesting for a large part of that demographic). Willing to share with a random service on the other hand...
- criley2 9y ago
  It's a security measure which protects the unlimited storage feature, among other things. What if someone wants to use random burner accounts to store gigabytes of child pornography? That's a lot harder to achieve if they have to buy a burner mobile phone for each account, and each burner phone has the potential to be tracked to the point of sale to use video and other techniques to catch the predator. Mobile number verification is a very cheap and powerful way to cut out the vast majority of bad actors.
  - bigbugbag 9y ago
    Phone number requirements is a very effective tool of surveillance and surveillance capitalism but it's also incredibly effective at keeping potential users out of your business. Have a look at the popularity of online services providing phone numbers for verification purpose.
    - criley2 9y ago
      "Have a look at the popularity of online services providing phone numbers for verification purpose." Sure. Let's see, Facebook requires phone number verification: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-net... Facebook is #1 most popular social network. Okay, WhatsApp is #2 service: Requires Phone Number verification Youtube, #3: No phone number verification, service is full of fake accounts, trolling, bigotry, and state propaganda and is seen as one of the worst communities in internet history #4: Facebook Messenger: Phone Number Verification #5: WeChat: Phone Number Verification #6: QQ: Optional phone verification, but operated under am authoritarian government which strictly regulates user bases, use of networks, messages made, etc. (AKA they hire armies of people to manually monitor and police the service) Perhaps I'm failing to see your point...?
dorkygator 9y ago
yahoo doesn't accept voip numbers for signup. I moved my mobile number to a voip provider and got a data only plan because it is way cheaper. I have hit a few roadblocks here and there, but end up saving 50% on my phone bill.
iamthepieman 9y ago
I have a phone number, just not a "mobile" one or whatever that means to yahoo's verification setup.
- rocky1138 9y ago
  Many telephone companies will read texts aloud if sent to a landline number. Sometimes I text my parents that way.
bigbugbag 9y ago
I'm pretty sure the majority on the planet does not have a phone number. Anyways do you think it is a sound business practice to refuse minorities because they are minorities ? Long tail says otherwise. After a few years of having my own internet access I got rid of the now irrelevant phone number, in the recent years it started to become a requirement for surveillance capitalism reasons and services that provide phone numbers for registration or verification started popping up right and left.
- upvotinglurker 9y ago
  "[World Bank] Report Says 75 Percent Of World's Population Have Mobile Phones" http://www.rferl.org/a/report-says-75-percent-of-worlds-population-have-mobile-phones/24648234.html http://www.rferl.org/a/report-says-75-percent-of-worlds-popu...

probably_wrong 9y ago

I have a Flickr account without a phone number, but I've had it for a long time. It's the same with GMail, though, so it's hardly a Yahoo thing.

wvenable 9y ago

It doesn't matter if you're not the only one. Somebody did the math and determined that people without mobile numbers weren't worth the support cost. It sucks to be the wrong side of that math but it happens to a lot of people for a lot of different things. Developers tend to try and include everyone but that is often a mistake -- the benefit rarely outweighs the cost.

fwn 9y ago
> Somebody did the math and determined that people without mobile numbers weren't worth the support cost. While I'd normally agree I'm not sure that Yahoos decision making process should be the role model regarding optimizing user growth. Their lack of users was not a minor issue.
iamthepieman 9y ago
Based on this article and the general decline of Flickr's userbase I think it's clear that the math was wrong.
- wvenable 9y ago
  I highly doubt requiring mobile numbers was the flaw here.
  - bigbugbag 9y ago
    Requiring mobile numbers is still a flaw. Calculation is "make mobile phone number optional and have most of the users refuse to give it away because they know better and miss profit opportunity or make it mandatory and risk having a few fringe users use worthless numbers", so optimal profit per user is the chosen way when the company is driven by maximizing their own profit (actually shareholders) and do not care about people, communities and such.

jandrese 9y ago

Did you try putting a landline phone number in? Many times they'll check their database and see that it is a landline and use an automated call system instead of a text. Just don't be on a VOIP connection because that's what spammers use.

bigbugbag 9y ago
My landline provider is using VoIP and has been for a decade. The good news is that it protects me from having a yahoo, google, facebook or any other accounts with stupid requirements to feed surveillance capitalism.