My hope is that there will be a large migration from IG to more in person community/group building. It’s been a focus of mine for a while and the growth is slow, but it is happening, bit by bit.
That TOS is standard boilerplate, not something menacing or shady. It means that when you post something, you give them the license to show that post to the people you chose to share your stuff with. Without that phrasing, you'd be posting so only you could see.
There have been a bazillion variations of this fear-filled post since 2008. It's the same with literally every service.
(The rest of this, though...absolutely true.)
And just to provide receipts, here's a direct cut and paste from bluesky, which pretty much everyone agrees isn't run by sixteen small demons in a trenchcoat (jury's still out on whether that's true for Meta). It's stated a little more informally, but says the same exact thing:
"By sharing User Content through Bluesky Social, you grant us permission to:
Use User Content to develop, provide, and improve Bluesky Social, the AT Protocol, and any of our future offerings. For example, we can store and present User Content to other users in Bluesky Social. This allows us to show your posts in the Bluesky app to other users;
Modify or otherwise utilize User Content in any media. This includes reproducing, preparing derivative works, distributing, performing, and displaying your User Content. For example, we can resize your posts to fit the Bluesky mobile or desktop app, or feature examples of User Content for promotional purposes; or
Grant others the right to take the actions above. For example, we can grant content moderation tools access to User Content in order to monitor Bluesky Social;
Remove or modify User Content for any reason, including User Content that we believe violates these Terms, the Bluesky Social Community Guidelines, or other policies.
The license is limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, and royalty-free."
I was never very active on it and stopped using it for years. I've started using it again pretty much solely to keep tabs on musicians who I would otherwise miss new releases and tour announcements from. But I think I'll need to find some other way to do it
I had similar feelings about Flickr back in the day. Well, less the existential “does this thing make the world a hellscape?” More “I appreciate the people and communities I have found here and am sad that this platform no longer facilitates those relationships.” Those of us who love your art will find you wherever you head next.
Yes. I have to admit, Instagram is great outreach for artists, and I do miss the megaphone I had for events and shows and the like. But I dropped it in late July 2022, due to the endless parade of ads and video (I'm a purist and loved it as a "photo only" app). I added this missive- "Time to move on after eleven years (!) and 3,377 posts. It’s actually been hard watching the slow (well, it hasn’t really been THAT slow) drip drip drain of all the qualities I loved about this platform get morphed into Meta’s ad platform and their version of TikTok, but as @mosseri said, “it’s evolution.” (For those of you who don’t know, he’s the head of Instagram). I'll take de-evolution please. The ads, the reels, the recommendations…I was just here to pass on a little about my work and interests and finds to those who cared. But it was fun while it lasted!
At first, I found myself so disgusted with the time my daughter spent endlessly scrolling... But, then it happened to me too. I find myself picking up my phone with the sole intent of mindless scrolling... It's kinda embarrassing when I think about it. There's so many better things I could be doing. More purposeful. More impactful.
I quit and it's...fine. I miss it sometimes. But I miss the old instagram. Not what currently exists. I know I should be outraged by all of the above (and I am), but honestly, the kicker was it all just got so very boring. Everyone's nervous or angry or trying to gam the system and it just sort of lost its appeal (for me). Then again, I've never been fortunate enough to gain much of a following so it wasn't a difficult choice.
I wrestle with this constantly, with all the platforms. I think the biggest challenge is we are at a point where we don't know, can't remember, or simply no longer have the tools necessary to create and maintain friendships and community without these evil fucking platforms which are forcing us into unhealthy simulations of friendship and community.
A lovely ballet was a nice way to represent a mental spiral I go on regularly 🖤
Yes.
Amazing! And you are reading the minds of all of us. Why has quitting an app become such a hard choice!
Lovely writing, spiral we are all going on lately. I think the answer will be yes. There is Bluesky and Substack.
I am also sad for the loss of artist communities but am trying to create more local ones as well as looking on platforms like this one.
Thank you for highlighting that Terms of Agreement we all clicked yes too. I did not know that!
There’s also Pixelfed, it’s like early days insta.
Ooo i don’t know this one!
My hope is that there will be a large migration from IG to more in person community/group building. It’s been a focus of mine for a while and the growth is slow, but it is happening, bit by bit.
That TOS is standard boilerplate, not something menacing or shady. It means that when you post something, you give them the license to show that post to the people you chose to share your stuff with. Without that phrasing, you'd be posting so only you could see.
There have been a bazillion variations of this fear-filled post since 2008. It's the same with literally every service.
(The rest of this, though...absolutely true.)
And just to provide receipts, here's a direct cut and paste from bluesky, which pretty much everyone agrees isn't run by sixteen small demons in a trenchcoat (jury's still out on whether that's true for Meta). It's stated a little more informally, but says the same exact thing:
"By sharing User Content through Bluesky Social, you grant us permission to:
Use User Content to develop, provide, and improve Bluesky Social, the AT Protocol, and any of our future offerings. For example, we can store and present User Content to other users in Bluesky Social. This allows us to show your posts in the Bluesky app to other users;
Modify or otherwise utilize User Content in any media. This includes reproducing, preparing derivative works, distributing, performing, and displaying your User Content. For example, we can resize your posts to fit the Bluesky mobile or desktop app, or feature examples of User Content for promotional purposes; or
Grant others the right to take the actions above. For example, we can grant content moderation tools access to User Content in order to monitor Bluesky Social;
Remove or modify User Content for any reason, including User Content that we believe violates these Terms, the Bluesky Social Community Guidelines, or other policies.
The license is limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, and royalty-free."
Note the last line. :)
Thank you so much for so perfectly articulating the thoughts and worries about this that have been cluttering my brain. X
This is all too true. Indeed what to do?
I was never very active on it and stopped using it for years. I've started using it again pretty much solely to keep tabs on musicians who I would otherwise miss new releases and tour announcements from. But I think I'll need to find some other way to do it
I've started going to their websites and signing up for email updates. It's a bit tougher for smaller musicians and those just getting started :/
I have.
You captured brilliantly how so many of us feel. I guess we should all leave together at the same time.
I had similar feelings about Flickr back in the day. Well, less the existential “does this thing make the world a hellscape?” More “I appreciate the people and communities I have found here and am sad that this platform no longer facilitates those relationships.” Those of us who love your art will find you wherever you head next.
AHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHH yeah no yeah no
Utter Perfection as usual with your comics.
Yes. I have to admit, Instagram is great outreach for artists, and I do miss the megaphone I had for events and shows and the like. But I dropped it in late July 2022, due to the endless parade of ads and video (I'm a purist and loved it as a "photo only" app). I added this missive- "Time to move on after eleven years (!) and 3,377 posts. It’s actually been hard watching the slow (well, it hasn’t really been THAT slow) drip drip drain of all the qualities I loved about this platform get morphed into Meta’s ad platform and their version of TikTok, but as @mosseri said, “it’s evolution.” (For those of you who don’t know, he’s the head of Instagram). I'll take de-evolution please. The ads, the reels, the recommendations…I was just here to pass on a little about my work and interests and finds to those who cared. But it was fun while it lasted!
At first, I found myself so disgusted with the time my daughter spent endlessly scrolling... But, then it happened to me too. I find myself picking up my phone with the sole intent of mindless scrolling... It's kinda embarrassing when I think about it. There's so many better things I could be doing. More purposeful. More impactful.
Like replying to your posts. 😁
I quit and it's...fine. I miss it sometimes. But I miss the old instagram. Not what currently exists. I know I should be outraged by all of the above (and I am), but honestly, the kicker was it all just got so very boring. Everyone's nervous or angry or trying to gam the system and it just sort of lost its appeal (for me). Then again, I've never been fortunate enough to gain much of a following so it wasn't a difficult choice.
Agreed. I quit in October. It was hard at first, but now I don’t miss it at all.
I wrestle with this constantly, with all the platforms. I think the biggest challenge is we are at a point where we don't know, can't remember, or simply no longer have the tools necessary to create and maintain friendships and community without these evil fucking platforms which are forcing us into unhealthy simulations of friendship and community.
I guess we're all in Plato's cave.
That's precisely how it feels; immobilizing fear to leave this world with the tiny inkling a better world is waiting.
this literally ❗️❗️
This. And I’m so sad that this is the case. I want to be proven wrong and that there are better versions of these cesspools.