Not everyone is happy about Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram this morning, it seems. In an apparent insta-backlash, a bunch of folks are tweeting about their intentions to delete their Instagram accounts now that Facebook has tainted their trendy social network with its massive data-grabbing paws.
It’s a spectacle even worse than when Instagram launched on Android, prompting all those #teamiPhone tweets. Sigh.
Some tech blogs are even posting tips and tools that help you get your data out of the service, too, like Instaport, for example. On Hacker News, a user dug up the Instagram page that lets you delete your account. Hooray. (Note: don’t click that link in haste unless you’re sure. All your photos will be gone, and you can’t re-register under the same username in the future.)
Evident among the tweeters are the typical concerns that when a big company steps in, it means things will never be the same – that Facebook will shut down the service or that they’ll change it somehow – two things Facebook and Instagram have both assured users they aren’t planning on doing. Others are concerned with what an influx of the Facebook mainstream user base will mean for their hip (but not so little) community.
guess i might as well go ahead and delete my instagram now. the Android ppl weren’t that bad. but frequent FB users are treacherous.
— Trill Gates (@McNyce) April 9, 2012
Even more users seem to be concerned about Facebook’s privacy-invading ways, and are posting tweets related to how Facebook is set on collecting all your personal into one big database…so you’d better get your data out now before it’s too late!
Of these, one of the more notable Insta-quitters is Boing Boing’s Xeni Jardin, who at least explained her position with a bit more enthusiasm, not to mention vehemence, than others, saying, “I quit Facebook after the umptymillionth privacy fuckup. I vote with my attention and my data input. I vote no to that shit.”
She also re-tweeted gdgt’s Peter Rojas, who posted:
“Most people disagree, but I think it’s important to not use services you have issues with, even if they are free.”
For what it’s worth, for a few, this reaction to Instagram’s news has come after careful consideration of the implications of using a service like Facebook.
As for the rest…?
Over-reaction from the Insta-hipsters? Another example of what all that Facebook fear-mongering can lead to? Or perhaps something indicative of a growing desire among social networking users for smaller, more private networks?
Maybe a little of all of the above.
Yes, Facebook is free, meaning you’re the product that gets sold. But Instagram is free, too, and massively growing. Eventually, it would have figured out how to monetize your eyeballs as well, albeit on a smaller scale than Facebook does now.
But there’s still something to be said about these Insta-quitters, though – it could be that for these users, Instagram, like other, new micro social networks (think Path, Pair, Pinweel, etc.), had provided an alternative to, and even an escape from, Facebook and all its apparently frightening size and scale.
And with that protection gone, so are they.
There is a huge (and growing) market of people who want nothing to do with facebook. Hint hint.
— Sean Bonner Ⓥ (@seanbonner) April 9, 2012
Same here. WHY ZUCK WHYYYYYYY “@Pecora_: @xeni I’m pissed, Instagram is my favorite app. Actually I use it even more than twitter.”
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) April 9, 2012
RT delete urs ! @CBaezzz Delete ur instagram!! The Feds own it now!!
— Anto(@Toniiiiii_) April 9, 2012
Rt @reallybigweek: INSTAGRAM | I want to delete my account – Done. tmblr.co/ZwwhbwJN1oSH << for the truly Facebook-phobic
— Martin Warne (@mwarne) April 9, 2012
ooo noo fb bought instagram, better delete my account erm nm didnt have one to start with
— Justin Case (@TeamAndIRC) April 9, 2012
time to delete instagram :( “@instagram: We’re excited to announce something very big: Instagram + Facebook bit.ly/Hslpv2”
— Hamce M (@Napaceni) April 9, 2012
Bout to delete instagram now that FB is over it.. When too many people catch on, it’s time to move on!
— BrIIght Red (@WhosBennie) April 9, 2012
If you delete your Instagram account, because Facebook bought them, you probably have a basement full of canned foods and flashlights.
— Alex Williams (@alexcwilliams) April 9, 2012
DELETE YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT! i call it ‘instaExodus’ and it happens friday the 13th.#instaExodus #joinus
— matt klaman (@mattklaman) April 9, 2012
Facebook buys Instagram for $1B. Don’t want Facebook to have even more of your data? Delete your Instagram account: instagram.com/accounts/remov…
— Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) April 9, 2012
Facebook is buying Instagram…. Shame I liked Instagram too… Guess I’ll have to delete them simultaneously
— Corey Gensler (@photogC) April 9, 2012
Obligatory tweet about Fb’s acquisition of Instagram causing surges of pseudo-intellectual trendsetters to delete their accounts.
— Chase Eversole (@ChaseEversole) April 9, 2012
RT @adamparish RT @rontec76: Neat. Facebook bought Instagram. Guess that’s one more app I can delete.
— meaganbyrd (@meaganbyrd) April 9, 2012
This is why we can’t have nice things. #instagram #facebook
— Jason Burns (@jasonburns) April 9, 2012
So. Facebook is buying Instagram. Ugh. (delete, delete, delete)
— Angie (@CornBread10) April 9, 2012
Soon as I delete my Facebook they decide to buy instagram #FML
— Erick Florian (@Eazythekid) April 9, 2012
Great I got to delete instagram now Facebook just bought instagram for 1 billion dollars
— Chad Wages (@CDub445) April 9, 2012
So Facebook is buying Instagram… that was a good app, i’ll know doubt have to delete it now #ihatefacebook
— Emma Bates(@_EmmaBates) April 9, 2012
UPDATE:
I can’t believe Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion! The fun’s over! Time to delete my Instagram account now. Also, what’s Instagram?
— Betty F*ckin’ White (@BettyFckinWhite) April 9, 2012
Image credit: Hilariously, Instagram user QuarryGirl
More On The Instagram acquisition
Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion, Turns Budding Rival Into Its Standalone Photo App
From 0 To $1 Billion In Two Years: Instagram’s Rose-Tinted Ride To Glory
Facestagram: Five New Features Facebook + Instagram Could Launch
With Instagram Buy, Facebook Officially Pushes M&A Strategy Beyond The ‘Acqui-hire’
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