Instagram, Facebook and Freeconomics

All you need to know about why this happened, above (exalt to Pinboards via The Atlantic)


So Instagram sold to Facebook, and now Facebook is imposing their own unique concept of sharing on them (Whats yours is ours, irrevocably and forever) - NYT lists 5 impacts of the new changes to their TOS.

1. Instagram can share information about its users with Facebook, its parent company, as well as outside affiliates and advertisers.
2. You could star in an advertisement — without your knowledge.
3. Underage users are not exempt.
4. Ads may not be labeled as ads.
5. Want to opt out? Delete your account.

I'm surprised anyone was surprised, its what Facebook does - its even in the Facebook T&C fergawdssakes, here is point 2.1.

“You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:

1. For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (“IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.”

etc

Mining your data is how Freeconomic businesses make money - selling YOU to them.

Anyway, what does surprise me is the size of the backlash. Interesting..does it imply the Mass market is starting to understand the downside of FreeConomics - there is no Free lunch, and if you can't see who is paying, then you are the lunch....

As I noted a few days ago with respect to Walled Garden Services' evolution overall over the years, they only stay walled until someone spooks the sheep (and they always do eventually, cash always trumps common sense)

in my experience these models work until they don't, and all the fooled sheep wake up, jump over the wall and go someplace else.

What is quite entertaining is that they are all jumping back to Flickr instead of a New New Service, which is a shot in the arm for Yahoo. Napoleon used to say "give me a lucky general over a good one"...seems to me Marissa Meyer has just go a very lucky break.

Update - I think Fred Destin writes a very good article about the risks of Social Network "bait and switch" over here: This comment is a real take-away:

I understand why Wall Street is maniacally focused on making sure facebook can monetize its ad inventory, but I am patiently waiting for the real bait-and-switch from these guys. Once facebook login is deeply embedded into every social service and the company effectively becomes the identity API for the world, who's really going to be surprised when they start monetizing the identity calls ?

Caveat (Free) Emptor......