Pondering Flickr

Its not all beer and skittles on Flickr. I have a friend who created her own space on Flickr and uploaded hundreds of photographs. But she said it was a lot of work to maintain and last time I looked her images were gone. I guess its all about the gratification of sharing images you have created and getting recognition and feedback on them. But I have doubts about the whole pseudomyn thing - and virtual relationships through these shared sites. Its a bit like the 15 seconds of fame thing. Is it real? Is it worth it?