Back when Instagram announced that its sale to Facebook was a done deal, they made a rather lofty promise that their acquisition meant “a better Instagram for everyone.” Today, many Twitter users have noticed that Instagram previews on their time lines appear either cropped or off-center; an annoyance sure, but why?
Twitter has officially confirmed the issue with Instagram posts on their site and in their mobile applications noting that Instagram has “[disabled] its Twitter cards integration;” the very definition of corporate shade throwing (we’re making this a thing btw) – and brings to light the future of the two social media services. Things are just beginning to get messy.
The tech space is a funny one that at the same time talks about things like “synergies,” “sharing,” and other Utopian descriptors in their pr language and yet appears to pull some rather obnoxious and petty moves such as this one. It’s hard to root for Instagram (or more likely its parent – Facebook) and not just because we personally like Twitter’s service (side note: we hate what Twitter has done to competing app makers); the move has caused disruption to their users more than its competitors.
Will people be pissed that Instagram no longer renders correctly on their phones or browsers? Sure, but it won’t stop people from Tweeting. If you felt that the merger between Instagram and Facebook was a sign of impending doom, you may not have been too far off the mark. Competition is great for any industry; it helps create new technologies, improve on older ones, and when done right makes everyone better for it. This seems more desperate than innovative. It’s the kind of move that signals to their competition, “we’re afraid and so we’ll pretend as if you’re not there in hopes you go away.”
This is NOT “a better Instagram for everyone.”
Source: Bits Blog (NYT)
You must be logged in to post a comment.