The new feature is similar (OK, exactly the same) to Facebook's "People you may know" friend finder/recommendation service. Suggestions are based on your contacts and the people they know. This is a pretty powerful way to find mutual friends and connections.
The new feature, which Flickr announced on its blog, can be accessed via the sidebar of the Flickr homepage, or from the new Find Your Friends page.
Additionally, Flickr has added Facebook to its list of services that you can cross-check for your friends and contacts. Flickr has long let you use Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Hotmail to find contacts and friends, but the Facebook integration is very cool.
If you are feeling anti-social -- or just don't want random people finding you on Flickr -- you can prevent your name from coming up as a suggestion by using the existing "hide your profile from public searches" setting.
Do you still use Flickr or have you moved to Facebook or another photo-sharing service? Let us know.