Back in September last year, Facebook sealed the deal and acquired Instagram. The acquisition almost immediately turned sour when Instagram suddenly appeared to flop, mobile users began to leave and Facebook’s stocks floundered as well. In the middle of this, Instagram further caused outrage when it announced a revision of its Privacy Terms and Policies.
The proposed revisions basically allowed Instagram to market and sell all of the photos or pictures that you have posted through Instagram. This statement scared away more Instagram users, making financial analysts think that the Instagram acquisition that Facebook made was the biggest blunder ever.
In spite of all that, it appears that things are finally looking up for Facebook and Instagram. Following the release of Graph Search, things are holding up okay on the Facebook front. As for Instagram, it has decided to strike out the part where they sell you out to advertisers and has posted another, more acceptable revision of their Terms and Policies. Furthermore, Instagram reports that its user base is growing once again with reports that Instagram now has more than 90 million monthly users and that it has more mobile users than Twitter.
The sore point of discontent among some Instagram loyalists is that Instagram now appears to be fully under Facebook’s regime. In their own words, the company said,
“Our updated privacy policy helps Instagram function more easily as part of Facebook by being able to share info between the two groups…”
Citing reasons such as spam removal, system checks, and future feature developments, Instagram is now just another avenue for Facebook’s media platform than a separate social network for photo enthusiasts. While many Instagram users embrace Facebook, there are some who don’t use Facebook at all. It will be interesting to see how those users will react to this news but for now, let’s all be thankful that our crazy Instagram edits won’t suddenly be advertisement fodder.
What do you think of the updated policy statement of Instagram? Let us know and comment below.