Instagram users jump ship en masse amid Facebook acquisition

Not everyone is thrilled with the acquisition of photo-sharing network Instagram by social networking juggernaut Facebook, with many tweeting their plans to leave Instagram, several tech sites reported Tuesday (Manila time).

 

A report on TechCrunch said the "Insta-Backlash" had many Instagram users tweeting about their intentions to delete their Instagram accounts - worse than when Instagram launch recently on Android.

 

"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," it said.

 

It said many of the tweets indicated the disgruntled users' concerns that things will never be the same for Instagram once it is swallowed by Facebook.

 

This was despite assurances by Facebook and Instagram they are not planning on changing the way the photo-sharing network is run.

 

But TechCrunch said more users appeared concerned about Facebook’s "privacy-invading ways," and posted tweets related to how Facebook is set on collecting all its users' personal information into one big database ... "so you’d better get your data out now before it’s too late!"

 

One of those threatening to quit Instagram was Boing Boing’s Xeni Jardin, who it quoted as saying, "“I quit Facebook after the umptymillionth privacy ****up. I vote with my attention and my data input. I vote no to that s***.”

 

TechCrunch also said it is also possible the disgruntled users had found an alternative to and even an escape from Facebook "and all its apparently frightening size and scale."

 

3rd-party services 'hammered'

 

A separate article on Mashable said third-party services that offer access to photos and feeds are getting "hammered" by users.

 

Mashable noted Instagram makes an API available to developers who want to access the stream of user photos and comments.

 

This allowed the creation of Instagram web and desktop viewers, including Followgram, InstaGrid, Ink361, Instagrille, Carousel and InstaDesk.

 

"As users contemplate deleting their Instagram accounts forever, many of these sites are becoming popular destinations for those who want to preserve their photos," it said.

 

Instaport’s ability to offer easy-to-access archives of a user’s photos is in hot demand, but Mashable noted many nginx server errors and slow download times.

 

Followgram is also facing heavy user activity, which is causing slower than normal load time and access to full photo feeds, it added.

 

"At this point, it isn’t clear if the services themselves are the bottleneck, or the API calls these services are making to Instagram’s servers. Meanwhile, it’s unclear what the Facebook ownership of Instagram will mean for APIs going forward," it said.

 

Facebook earlier said it was buying Instagram for $1 billion in stock and cash - the social network's largest acquisition to date.

 

The acquisition also came weeks before its highly-anticipated initial public offering (IPO).

 

A report on CNN said Facebook registration documents showed it had around $3.9 billion in cash on hand as of year-end 2011.

 

It added San Francisco-based Instagram had raised around $8 million in venture capital funding, from Andreessen Horowitz, Baseline Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Chris Sacca, Adam D'Angelo and Jack Dorsey.

 

Last week, it reportedly closed on $50 million in new funding at a $500-million valuation that included new investors Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital and Greylock Partners.

 

In contrast, it noted Yahoo acquired photo-sharing company Flickr for just $35 million in 2004. — TJD, GMA News