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So Meta
When Facebook acquired Instagram for a cool $1 Billion way back in April, users began to predict the beginning of the end. It wasn't so much that the in-crowd felt their photo sharing app became too popular, but the presumption was that Instagram would now follow the questionable path of any money-hungry social media platform (i.e. myspace). Aside from having a bit of a tug of war with Twitter integration (most likely because they were outbid by Facebook), we haven't seen signs of a square image apocalypse...that is until there was talk of monetization. The word "advertisement" has established a stigma similar to that of the plague and it seems they're trying to avoid being blunt...the real question trying to ask is "how can we make money for a free service with ads that don't look like ads?" Shifty pseudo-ads and rumors of a paid version are simply speculation, but it seems that Instagram has already taken the steps to cover their tracks when they do.
Yesterday Instagram updated their new Terms of Service and Privacy policy that made users fairly upset to say the least. Although they've stated on their blog that "Nothing has changed about your photos’ ownership or who can see them" Instagram seems to be stretching the definition of nothing.
- "Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service, except that you can control who can view certain of your Content and activities on the Service as described in the Service's Privacy Policy
- Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you..."
- You acknowledge that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such."
Only a quick skim one can see a few red flags. Starting on January 16th, you still retain the ownership rights to the images you post, but you in turn are granting Instagram royalty-free licenses so they can technically make money off your images. In the same way that Facebook turns your "likes" into relevant "sponsored stories", your images can have the potential to be turned into ads. To do this they are collecting data and sharing it with businesses involved through Instagram or Facebook...On top of all that they can do this without notifying you and it even applies to underage users or the people in the pictures. Their likenesses can be used without their consent. If you aren't on board with this (who would be?) the only way to truly opt out is to delete your account which you can do right here.
Ironically there's been a lot of outrage on Facebook with users planning to delete their IG accounts...and maybe there's merit to being overprotective. Not everyone posts goofy pictures of their friend's awful looking feet. Some use Instagram as a way to showcase images they want to sell. Why should they make money off of your images without you getting a share? Then again, what would you expect from a company like Facebook? Being mildly disgruntled won't deter many who skip the ToS in the first place and those who don't agree will probably just find the next mind-numbing app to easily share content with their friends. This is the unfortunate price to pay for play when you deal with a free service. Remember: "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold."