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Content Mobility

It’s always been easy to get photos in and out of Flickr. This program is about making tools and toys for culture workers, geeks, and researchers.

Please note: At 31 July 2026, this program will cease. The Foundation plans to keep the Data Lifeboat and Flickypedia services online, but they are not actively managed.

About the program

Early work will likely comprise R&D around Flickr as a waypoint in digital heritage workflows. Hoping to support productivity and happiness of culture workers, especially at little institutions.

The content mobility program will explore the life of a photograph and its metadata in three stages:

  1. Coming into Flickr: Build integrations with contemporary tools and technologies Flickr Commons members are already using. Streamline engagement and publishing capacity.
  2. On Flickr: Create facilities for Commons members to better understand activity on Flickr. Develop better tools for volunteer researchers.
  3. After leaving Flickr: Research and analyse where photos go after they’ve joined Flickr Commons. Investigate ongoing metadata/licensing accuracy and stability. Make new methods to understand the trails Flickr photos make across the web.
Sketch of content mobility program, May 2021

Current projects

screenshot of the main Flickypedia project page on Wikimedia Commons showing a photograph of a brightly colored bird

Flickypedia

We’re extending a 10-year old tool that was built to send Creative-Commons licensed photographs from Flickr to Wikimedia Commons.Read about the project on Wikimedia Commons

What’s a Data Lifeboat?

How might we prepare for the worst-case scenario? What could that teach us about preservation?Read more
Screenshot of a PDF on Internet Archive

Do you know how to write a 100-year plan?

Not many of us do. So why not try the new session plan we're launching under CC-BY today! It's a PDF!

Try it now!
Letters spelling out TO SEE WORLD resting on a wall outside in front of a brick wall

Anil Dash - using community to build power

"The common theme was that belief that the web was about giving people power and a voice to hold the powerful accountable. It really did happen! We didn’t imagine it! And it got fully subverted."

Read more

New Report: Death Is Not an Edge Case

On recommendations for improved digital legacy features for Flickr members.

Read more
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