Imgur Acquired by MediaLab

[Enjay]

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/28/2269 ... starhiphop

I guess we'll have to wait and see how this will affect how people here often use imgur - i.e. as a free, unlimited image host site.

The imgur post on the subject (also linked from the above article):
https://imgur.com/gallery/We6yCM2

[Nash]

Nothing ever lasts forever. Prepare for a bunch of broken image embeds all over the forum...

(If you've embedded images on forums and want to keep them, I'd start saving them to your hard disk right now)

[Rachael]

Am not the least bit surprised. I expect this will be followed by efforts to monetize the platform and possibly even remove some of its more useful features in the process (such as thumbnail hotlinking, which this site uses).

Well - it was fun while it lasted.

[Enjay]

Indeed, I remember a few discussions on here predicting that - sooner or later - the service would become less than it currently is. Unlimited hosting of images for eternity did seem to be too good to be true and if something seems to good to be true, it usually is.

[Gez]

If anything, I'm surprised at how long it has held up.

[Caligari87]

Eh, Imgur has had monetization for years and they also delete very old images without views that aren't connected to an account. They've also fiddled quite often with dark patterns that prioritize pushing viewers to the webpage or app in order to get more ad views. Most of these are easily circumvented if you have even the most remote idea of how to experiment with the UX, but it's definitely still there.

That said, I don't really trust this bit.

We’ve been acquired by MediaLab! MediaLab, based in Santa Monica, CA, is a company that owns great internet brands like Whisper, Kik, WorldStarHipHop, Amino, Genius and others.

I've barely heard of most of these, and what I do hear isn't great. Either nothing will change, or everything will change (probably for the worst).

But I'm reserving judgement for now. I don't really use image hosting much anymore personally, and if I end up having a significant need I'll probably get a premium Imgur subscription anyway like I did with Streamable for my videos.

[Enjay]

and they also delete very old images without views that aren't connected to an account.

I've seen that before, but I've never had an account and I've checked some very old posts of mine (here and on other forums). I didn't find any with missing images when the image was hosted on Imgur.

[nova++]

Surprised it took this long. Honestly, I've been a bit disgruntled with imgur for a while as they've been trying to turn themselves into a social media website instead of an image host... I know you have to pay the bills, but it never sat well with me.

Ah, someday I'll get my own webhost and never have to worry about stuff like this again.

Truthfully, I mostly just share images within chat platforms these days if I wanna send something to someone. This forum is the first time I've used imgur in quite a while for needing to actually host and post images.

[Enjay]

Honestly, I've been a bit disgruntled with imgur for a while as they've been trying to turn themselves into a social media website instead of an image host... I know you have to pay the bills, but it never sat well with me.

Yes, this direction has certainly moved it away from its original reason to exist. It always felt a bit weird and forced to me as well.

[leileilol]

I thought it jumped the shark years ago when it started to make me "take the wrong turn" (like silicon valley's HTTP 40X euphemisms) for attempting to view images directly and or just blanking the whole page because my gecko-based browsers aren't chromeformant enough to make their javascript happy

note this is because i tried to view an image directly to get a better look, i've never intended to use the site itself. I think the only image i've ever, ever uploaded to imgur (years ago when it worked) was a forum signature

[nova++]

I thought it jumped the shark years ago when it started to make me "take the wrong turn" (like silicon valley's HTTP 40X euphemisms) for attempting to view images directly and or just blanking the whole page because my gecko-based browsers aren't chromeformant enough to make their javascript happy

note this is because i tried to view an image directly to get a better look, i've never intended to use the site itself. I think the only image i've ever, ever uploaded to imgur (years ago when it worked) was a forum signature

It's been long enough that I forgot about that. That sort of practice is up there with "SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER" popups for me