Recent major changes in Instagram terms of service

The recent major changes in Instagram terms of service are a reminder for all social media service users – there is no free lunch.

Or, let's be more blunt: users should understand that in this architecture they are not consumers of services, but part of the products sold to real consumers. Advertisers are real consumers who pay social media companies and want their investments to be rewarded.

Instagram, now a member of Facebook, is clearly not out of the shadow of the recent privacy debate. Last month, they announced changes to the privacy policy and terms of service for photo-sharing services, which caused widespread anxiety in users, fearing that Instagram might allow their uploaded photos to be used for advertising purposes.

As their parent company has experienced in the past, in the midst of a completely predictable mess and rage, Instagram has to make a quick move to "clarify" his policies in a way that apologizes.

Over the past few years, Facebook has repeatedly angered users with its bizarre privacy policy settings. A major conflict erupted in 2007 when they launched a beacon advertising system that sparked controversy and eventually Facebook had to give up.

In the past and now, all these arguments are telling the world that social media companies and the growing number of users are unlikely to be the same – the former are businesses focused on revenue and profits, while the latter are accustomed to free access to a variety of valuable services. To change this bedfellows relationship, both sides must shoulder their responsibilities.

In terms of consumers, everyone must realize that the use of nominally free social media services or other Web services is always at a cost, whether it's Facebook, Gmail, Google +, Twitter or Pinterest, all the same.

Consumers create content that expands the size of these services and makes them increasingly valuable as a network. But all those amazing photos, emails, documents, updates and conversations that are being stored and delivered also cost money, and businesses are paying for them, and they are willing to pay for it because they want to be able to use the data and information to make money.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Anyone who signs up for free or super cheap services should understand that the information they submit through their activities will be used in some form by the enterprise to promote the growth of the enterprise itself.

In the business of providing services, they should be more honest from the start when facing their own users, saying that they want to survive, to develop, to make money, rather than to sing a high-profile change in the world. Of course, they are now actually stating their purpose, but this purpose is often buried in the long, sleepy, "service clause" of the legal documents, few users will have enough time, energy and knowledge to digest these Terms of understanding.

Perhaps, Instagram's old users are somewhat innocent. When Facebook bought the company for 1 billion dollars, many reports sang the same tune: "Instagram has no revenue and no business model." ”

This is actually sheer nonsense. Most of these companies are backed by venture capital, and no venture capitalist in the world can put billions of dollars into millions to build a huge, free service user base, but can't think of a company that makes money.

Social media companies, internet companies, in the first place, they should have told users simply: "We're offering you free service because we want to make money, and the key to making money is the information you give, and that's the way it is." In fact, such a call is already commonplace.

Instagram now sends out a peculiar alarm. The company's blog post last month should be the most obvious evidence show that the company has not yet thoroughly figured out how to change it: "In the future, we will not simply ask you to agree to accept the advertised products that we have not yet developed, but to devote time to perfecting our plans, Then go back and explain to our users how we want our advertising business to work. ”

Perhaps in the new year, other startups will learn more from the stories of Facebook and Instagram. All social media need to come up with a better warning form, and at the same time, all consumers need to realize that no charge often does not really mean 0 price.