Elijah Ketchum
Instagram finally arrived on Android just last week, and iPhone users were in a huge uproar over “those Android users” getting into their club. Instagram also received 1 million downloads in the first day, showing that there really was a lot of Android users joining the club. However, a lot of the Android community couldn’t see the point in actually using the app, because we’ve already had those filters in so many other applications. Still, enough Android users saw a way they could use the app that Instagram put a pretty big footprint in the Play Store.
Today, Mark Zuckerberg announced via Facebook that the social giant would be acquiring Instagram. A lot of users were upset about that. A lot. It has gone as far as people exporting their photos and deleting their account as soon as the announcement was made, and others setting up a date for a massive account deleting party, much like the “Quit Facebook Day” we saw last year when Facebook made some privacy changes. This leaves the newly joined Android community with a question. Should we continue to use Instagram? Because with only a week under our belts it couldn’t be something we can’t live without. And for users who haven’t even started using the service, should you even join?
The Instagram team had to have seen a huge issue coming, because they added this statement to their official blog letting users know things would be the same:
“It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience.
The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love. You’ll still have all the same people you follow and that follow you.You’ll still be able to share to other social networks. And you’ll still have all the other features that make the app so fun and unique.”
Still, a lot of users hate Facebook, and cannot imagine to see their hip Instagram community flooded with around 900 million Facebook users (and growing). This leaves it up to each and every individual to assess where they are in the social network, and where they think it will go. If you think Instagram is on its way down the drain, go ahead and delete your account, but be warned. If you delete your Instagram account, your photos will be gone forever, and you will never be able to create another account under the same username again. Deleting an Instagram account is very permanent, and unlike just “deactivating” a Facebook account.
On the other end, and personally the way I see most fit to go, you can wait it out. I downloaded and began using Instagram the day it was released on Android, and have intermittently used it since. I don’t use it as much as Twitter, but I definitely use it more than Facebook. Will Instagram be ruined forever? Who knows. Will Instagram be ruined by Facebook and all of its massive user base? We don’t know. One thing we do know though, is Instagram is still there, and nothing has changed yet. If the company continuing to add services to their app and improves upon it more and more, how will the users who quit on the day of the Facebook acquisition feel?
I’m not saying I like the acquisition, because I definitely don’t. But I do think users should wait and see what happens before they go deleting their accounts forever. That’s not to say I’ll never delete mine, I’m just not deleting it yet.
