Not so long ago (in the middle of December) Instagram changed their “Terms of Service” which created a massive uproar between users and media. A lot of users and even brands threatened to leave the service. Some really did leave (National Geographic, for example). This wasn’t the first time Instagram was unable to please everyone.
So, I would like to point out this and some other points, which have made me thinking – how far can Instagram go and how much will its users endure. Here it goes. My list of Instagram’s wrongdoings:
1) After Facebook’s purchase of Instagram, twitter removed the option to import twitter contacts into the photo app. That means that Instagram users have no easy way how to follow their twitter friends. This wasn’t cool or welcomed. I didn’t like this too. But I completely understand twitter – leaving this option on would mean passing its user graph to Facebook on a silver plate. This isn’t Instagram’s as a service’s fault, but still it’s their loss.
2) Instagram decides to have a revenge on twitter and removes twitter card support. No more Instagram photo previews in twitter apps or platforms. From this point, users have to go through Instagram’s link to see their friend content. This is Instagram being evil – still not cool, but it’s actually no big deal. This one extra step doesn’t take too much effort on user’s end.
3) Instagram changes ToS (terms of service) and users (with the help of bad journalism) decide that Instagram is about to sell their photos. It was clear from the day one that these terms were not going to do more harm than Facebook’s. Anyways, it’s easier to start to scream than to think. I completely understand Instagram’s owners, because it’s better to lose some users and to start making cash than to go down. Instagram did nothing wrong here, it’s just bad luck on their part.
4) Instagram removes “@” signs from picture captions that are sent to twitter. This was a pretty sad surprise. Not all of my friends are on Instagram and sometimes I want to share pictures w/ them or meant for them on twitter via Instagram, but now it’s rendered impossible. Ok, there’s chance that my followers will notice them, but what if the person doesn’t follow me? This is bad judgement on Instagram’s end and out of all the changes this is the closest to dealbreaker (at least for me).
What’s your take on Instagram’s attitude?
