Hi Mary, you asked:

But why did you delete your YouTube and Flickr accounts? They provide such a service for the average person. I use those accounts when editing travel stories as a way for people to see more, to hear more.

I left Youtube and Flickr after they were taken over by Google and Yahoo, respectively - for much the same privacy reasons I left Facebook, but with the added push of shady content ownership stuff. I don't see why I should pay Flickr for the privilege of letting use my content to generate revenue. The service they provide by giving me a space to share photos is something I can - and do - accomplish far better here on my own space.

Granted, I'm not the "average person" on the web, and if you use youtube and flickr to give people more access to your work, then I think that's great! Just know that it's way cooler (and way more work) to do it yourself - without their help.