Monday, December 24, 2012

Instagram Allowed to Sell Member's Photos to Third Parties?


Instagram Allowed to Sell Member’s Photos to Third Parties?

by  | on December 24, 2012
instagram
photo by instagram.com

Instagram is a free photo sharing online service that started in October 2010 and combines photo sharing with social media.

It was originally an app for Apple products such as iPhone, iPads and iPods, but in April 2012 it became available for Android and camera phones.
Instagram users take a picture and use filters to change the look of their photo and then post it to the Instagram site and it can also be easily shared on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter and people can “like” your picture(s).
Gut splitting YouTube video by College Humor.  ”Look at this Instagram (Nickleback parody)”
*Advisory:  a couple explicit words used, and a couple guttural references*
With its success and over 100 million users, Instagram became very attractive to Facebook who purchased it and finalized the deal in September 2012 for about $1 billion in stock and cash.

In December 2012, Instagram changed the terms of service, allowing it to sell the members’ photos to third parties without permission, notification or compensation as of January 16, 2013. There was immediate widespread criticism particularly from privacy advocates.  One large user, National Geographic even suspended its Instagram account.

Instagram responded to the backlash and retracted the plan and is now working on producing a new policy statement.
Users are worried about their photos (and themselves) being used for advertising.  There is also the typical expectation of financial compensation which has been eliminated with the new policies.  For some, it is seen as a form of stealing.  Many feel this is also a privacy issue and this will make advertisers think twice about how they would use Instagram photos.
The ironic part of the backlash is that people are posting on Facebook to complain about another Facebook product (Instagram).  It is likely that this is a use that wasn’t foreseen.
The biggest advantage of Instagram is that it is one of few social programs that is almost exclusively used by mobile users.  Now, marketers are feeling threatened about how to use it.  They are hoping that the repercussions of the public’s anger will not backfire on their plans to put their ads out to the Instagram users.
For instance, if you “liked” a number of photos of cars, you might get ads sent to you from new car manufacturers or parts suppliers.  But this will not work if the public’s perception is poor and the trend to quit Instagram over the latest controversy continues.
Even though many users have not fully understood all the facts, it will not stop them from rebelling against Instagram and its marketers.  It will be very interesting to see how the PR and spin for this situation is presented.

God bless you!
 
Adrian and Jocelyn Frank
CEO/Owners of Adrian Frank Consulting
eMail: adrianfrank@gmail.com, jocelyntranfrank@gmail.com
www.BeEmpoweredHere.com 
 
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