The CEO of Instagram recently announced that IG will no longer be a photography, or "still picture" forum. They mainly want videos and "stories," he said. This of course is because that's what interests the demographic they are trying to woo. It is not what I want to do, and not what I want to look at. It's not why I'm there. I'm not really interested in being a "creator" or an "influencer," for that matter, either.
I'll skip the tirade about what photography is and why we do it. I'll say that IG, in it's old, original form, was an interesting, quaint way to share casual pics of interesting things of beauty we might have stumbled across, or to reveal details of each of our own particular environments. And the mostly imposed square format we had to work with was a fun challenge to compositions. And of course we could be forgiven for the occasional selfie or cat pic.
As I navigated around IG's account settings in search of a way to download all my pictures in preparation for deleting my account, should my disgruntlement reach that tripping point, I discovered the database that IG has on me--it is for targeting ads--and it consists of pretty much every google search I've ever made. I don't know how they got it, but it's just another reminder that most of these platforms are massive, offensive invasions of privacy. That might be something I would readily accept if only Instagram were more fun. But it's not, so I don't.
I hear you and it’s why I never restarted IG after making a new FB account. I remember from years back that it was so full of direct ads plus people selling stuff indirectly and also of course all the “hot women.” Bleh. TikTok is largely the same and in “story” form, which is hey look at my cute cat being cute or some woman pouting and posing while she works out for 10 seconds. I’ve lost all interest in it and deleted the app. Besides, FB now knows I like the kitty stories and conveniently shows me random ones between ads on their reels. I’m sure my privacy is hugely compromised 😡
ReplyDeleteIt's Hetty. Oh God I'd die if there was a list of all my Google searches. Not that there's anything truly eyebrow-raising, but it would be very, very long and very, very weird. I've never been interested in IG. BTW, why did I think you moved your blog to WordPress? I'm losing my mind...
ReplyDeleteHetty--no, you are not losing your mind. I am losing my mind. I switched to WP (for the second time, mind you) and remembered why I hated it so much the first time. In the process, I messed up my gravatar i.d. so my links on comments at WP aren't even right--I don't think.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, glad you made it over here! I'm sorry Blogger.com makes commenters use anonymous. In fairness, Wordpress has its own set of hoops for non-WPers to jump through.
Yeah I looked my searches over and decided I'm probably schizophrenic--ADHD at the very least. Or, to be generous I suppose you could just say I'm a giant nerd.