Hosting sites

[Jon]

If you post the same image in a bunch of places, it can be easier to just upload the images to one image server, retrieve the image url, and then just copy-paste that image url wherever you want. In theory. The reality is that you're giving them a bunch of control over a single point of failure. We saw this happen recently with Photobucket, who suddenly started charging for their "free" service. This isn't that unheard-of, but they broke an unspoken internet rule by failing to retroactively grandfather everyone.

So, all of a sudden, if you hosted your pics on Photobucket, and then posted them on forums, your photos disappeared if you didn't pay Photobucket $40/month. More traditionally, when web services start charging, it makes sense to give away the service for free to existing members. For example, sometimes forums will open up a "pay" subforum, or offer paid subscription services, but it's widely accepted that this strategy is accompanied by giving away those services for free to established members, while new members pay the fee.

Regarding privacy, images contain something called EXIF data - details on camera type, camera settings, date/time, and geolocation data from newer cameras' GPS systems. There are various ways to view the EXIF data on your computer, and websites that will show you the EXIF data if you upload a pic. Sometimes you can just open up an image file in a text editor, and, amidst all the "junk" binary image characters, you'll see the EXIF details. If you want, you can strip away the EXIF data before uploading a pic, but, in most cases, you probably don't care.

mklotz brought up this issue in regard to YouTube. Self-hosting of videos is much rarer than self-hosting of images, and we don't really know what may happen one day when YouTube (owned by Google) decides to turn the screws.

Thematically, this all points to the rising belief that what will be most valuable on the net in the future is not a technical ability like image storing, video uploading, or web hosting. According to this belief, what will be most valuable is trust itself.