Instagram knows how to shake things up, or what?

In light of the latest Terms of Service and Private Policy, I was with other countless IG enthusiasts, trying to decide whether to close my account.  I was in fear of seeing random IG photos of my twins in a remote Turkish family day care advertisement.

It’s been known to happen.

However, as a response to the feedback they’ve received, IG’s co-founder,  Kevin Systrom released a statement this morning to clarify their intentions.

I believe IG when they say we won’t be seeing ghastly ad banners dominating our feeds, or that our photos will be sold or used for such purposes.  They’re going to be a lot more innovative than that.

Ultimately, IG is a safe and protected community.  I personally think that it’s their big differentiator from other social media channels.  The close knit, interactive circles that IG  users have created is the value proposition that will interest potential advertisers.

Let’s say, I followed a big fashion label’s account.  These retailers will want to know more about my consumer behaviour (what other fashion labels do I follow, where do I shop, etc.).

My guess is that it’s our meta data (account details, activity, profile photos) that IG’s advertisers are interested in, not necessarily our photos.

In the interim, I’m going to take some small precautions:

Make sure I have a back up of all my IG photos

Theoretically, IG photos go straight to your camera roll and saved there.  However, I’ve had many instances where my photo might appear on the  IG feed but it never made it to my camera roll.

It’s a tedious task, but for those missing photos, I go to the Web.sta.gram or the Instagram website and download them from there.

Also, in case you do decide to close your IG account on the 16th of January, remember that unlike Facebook where you can retrieve an inactive account, all data will be wiped clean.

So, make sure you have all your photos on file before you make the decision either way.

Watermark my photos

There’s an iTunes app called iWatermark that I just downloaded and trialed.  It’s simple to use.  I’ve been meaning to watermark my photos for awhile so now is a good time as any.  If anything, it’s a safeguard.

Be mindful 

This rule is a no-brainer and obviously it applies to all forms of social media.  For instance, did you know that even if you have your privacy settings locked and loaded, once you add a hashtag to your IG photo, it becomes public?

Yet, with its lack of spammers and trolls, I have felt safe enough to be extremely carefree with what I post, particularly with photos of my children.  For now, I’m thinking of toning them down.  Stinky after gym selfies and IG parties on the other hand…

I don’t want to close my account.  It would seriously feel like chopping off my right limb.

In using something for free, the trade off is to give up some personal details.

That’s the reality of combining social media and internet marketing.

As long as IG remaining transparent with their changes and I keep proactive in protecting my account and intellectual property, I think (for now), there’s little to worry about.

Are you going to close your account? What would you add to my list?