The last 48 hours have been a bit hectic for social media giant Instagram. In case you missed it, on Monday the company announced changes to it’s legal terms, that gave Instagram right to sell user’s photos for marketing and advertising purposes. The backlash was instant and universal. Within hours of the changes, users were looking for other networks, and those networks were very willing to take advantage of the increased attention.
But Why Did Instagram Do It?
You may remember a few months ago, Facebook purchased Instagram for an obscene amount of money, a deal worth $1 billion. Now that Facebook is under scrutiny to make money (that’s what going public does for you!), they’re trying many different ways to increase revenue.
Instagram had to expect that users would be enraged by the move, but they severely underestimated the backlash. The question is can’t they find other ways to make money? Sure, while you can argue that Instagram was interested in licensing your content, what I suspect they were really interested in, was sharing the topics and interests of your account with advertisers. Because if they know your interests, it’s not hard to see how they will pay more for Instagram ads or sponsored uploaded. If I was a small or local brand heavily investing in Instagram to build my online presence, I would be searching for other options right now, thinking about other ways to build my network that don’t include a online service that is willing to take away some of my copyright protection.
So Who Does Own Your Online Content?
Copyright protection and online rights will be the biggest issue facing social media users in 2013. I think we’re going to see more and more of these types of updates in the next 12 months. Fortunately, although Instagram reversed it’s position, no other network seems to be moving in such a drastic direction. In fact, other networks, such as Google+ explicitly prohibit the company from selling photographs uploaded through it’s networks. Yahoo’s photo sharing site, Flickr allows users several licensing options, giving users protection over their own material.
It’s important to review the terms of service for each social media network you use. Some networks, like Facebook regularly update their privacy options, so don’t ignore those emails filled with legal jargon when they appear in your inbox. Your actions, photographs and comments left on a social media sites may become the next new marketing ad!
