I was originially going to post this a little later in the week, but today Facebook bought Instagram so I though I should keep up with the news and post now. I don't know what this purchase means for sure - I can guess that Facebook wanted some kind of photo editing built in to their picture manager, just how Google does on Google+. For that reason I think it's smart move and I think a lot of people will have fun with it and really enjoy it.
However, for me this mean something entirely different. To preface this I want to explain my background a little: I started college as a computer science major and married a software developer, technology surrounds my daily life. I studied ethics in technology for a semester, it is something that I became very passionate about. This passion grew even more as I switched majors to graphic design and found many people misinformed on the topic. All this to say, one issue I have problems with is Facebook's terms of use and privacy standards. So much so that I have disabled my account and refuse to rejoin, no matter how inconvient it makes my life. A major reason for this is because I am a graphic designer, my pictures, ideas and information about what I'm doing needs to be my own - I need to have complete rights over it and in the least be credited for my work if someone else uses it. Under Facebook's terms I don't have that, anything that is posted is owned by Facebook. This means my creative thoughts and ideas - which I use Instagram to capture and create - could go under that same clause.
This is not a call to boycot or tell you what to do, it's just my point of view and hopefully something to make you stop and think. Technology is amazing and has opened so many doors for so many people; but be very careful how you use it, especially if it relates to your business. Read the fine print and take great precautions, even if you're alone in them.
