Image sourced from: http://fadedandblurred.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/500px-flickr-title1-600x375.jpg

The long anticipated fate of Flickr seems to be neigh, after many months from Yahoo to gather the once unprecedented photographic pace and presence, it seems there isn't much left that they can accomplish. Flickr has recently gained a Myspace like feel, with masses of advertisements littering each page and a lack of substantial updates to lift this site into the modern age.
Coupled with the lack of a powerful iPhone, iPad and Android phone applications, people don't feel much need to keep their images on this site as no-one will see them anymore.

This has all accumulated into a vast shift into a new website called 500px.com, giving it the new brand of the world biggest photographic community. Granted, this hasn't been the easiest of battles for 500px, many other web based image sharing sites have popped up around the internet but none had much clout.
What sets 500px aside from all other photo sharing websites is its understanding of how much of a visual art photography is. By removing all unnecessary text it has the resemblance of a flipboard, with various different sized images which span the pages, allowing an uninterrupted viewing of photographs.
Along side this they promote an online portfolio which can be linked to potential clients and the option to sell your images on canvases through the site. Along side the massive influx of hits the site is gathering, its potential has moved from the amateur photographic market to the professional market as well, due to its unprecedented platform to not only advertise images, but to also make money on them without having to leave the comfort of your own house.

Screenshot from 500px.com

On a social scale 500px allows a new method of "liking" someone's images, in the same manor you would on Facebook or twitter, this allows a faster paced consumption of images by the public. This has given way to the opportunity to reel in feedback for your latest images within minutes of posting an image, something that blows flickr out of the water. Maintain a blog, write on a friends wall, view their activity, newsfeed style and even view their friend photo's all without leaving 500px.com, giving it a seamless consumption and sharing of images. Exactly how the twenty-first century method of sharing images should work.

Screenshot from 500px.com