When we last caught up with Wired scribe Mat Honan, he was going through Douglas Sirk-ian dramatic hell after getting hacked. Now he's quitting Instagram. Why? Well, in a response to the company's TOS police change announcement on Tuesday, which was retracted less than 24 hours later, Honan explains why he quit Instagram posthaste. Among other things? The company's plan to sell users' photos.
In part, Honan writes:
I think there’s a reasonable middle position. I believe Instagram should be able to make money. Facebook telegraphed that something like this was coming just last week, and my reaction at the time was “good.” I was happy that Instagram had a revenue model. It isn’t a charity. And companies that don’t make money are doomed to fail. Facebook paid a lot of damn money to buy Instagram, and it’s natural to want some return on that.Yet I also believe it’s wrong to take people’s photos - out of context - for use in advertisements. With no way to opt out.
The issue is about more than using photos of my baby daughter, or deceased grandmother, in ads. The greater concern should be that the company would forge ahead with such a plan without offering any other option to the very users and data that built it.
He later voices his frustration at the possibility of being commodified, saying:
And so I quit Instagram on principle. Because I’m tired of contributing to the commodification of my own existence. I’m not a pork belly, or a barrel of oil. I’m tired of clicking on agree, when I vehemently oppose. I’m tired of saying yes, when I want to say no.
In related news, Honan will appear on CNN today to discuss Instagram and, presumably, his decision to quit it. And be sure to read his piece in its entirety (It's been updated to include a response to Tuesday afternoon's TOS retraction by Instagram.) An interesting read.