Flickr clone

I'm reading through the new 23 Photo Sharing site right now and I cannot spot a single difference between this and Flickr. It might be very good, but I'm not motivated to try it if isn't going to offer me anything different. You have to wonder what the business model is, though. Are the creators of this site aiming to get bought by a company that's kicking itself for not buying Flickr?

Here's an interesting recent discussion, with 23People claiming they aren't trying to clone Flickr. My impression from reading the Web site and some comments around the Web is that they're aiming at people "left behind" by Flickr, who are nervous about the open sharing approach (Flickr's default setting is to allow anyone to view your photos, 23People's default is to keep them private). That describes a lot of my family to a tee, so maybe they have a point.

I like Flickr's defaults. I've mentioned this before: the Internet is in many ways like a public park. The more people who use it, and for more purposes, the safer it becomes to go there. But that's counter-intuitive. People are afraid to talk to strangers and afraid to share.

Technorati Tags: Photos, Flickr, Business