Lifelong Philadelphia resident, Marathoner, Photographer, Blogger, Muse.
You can contact me at midnightbluesays (at) gmail (dot) com 
Instagram VS EyeEm
A few weeks ago a friend shared a link to what seemed to me at the time another photo app – EyeEm – trying to out shine Instagram. I took a few photos using the app during a recent long weekend in Annapolis, MD then promptly shuffled the app to the back burner.
Recently, Instagram updated their Terms of Service to include wording that appeared to signal their intention of using member photos in advertisements without notifying or sharing revenue with the creator of the photo. There was no opt-out of this change outside of deleting your account before the new year. Needless to say, it brought an outpouring of criticism from stunned users. Cofounder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom responded to the outcry by stating Instagram has no intention to sell you photos. Which by and large is true, but they have reserved the right to do so.
I get that Instagram has to develop a business plan and profit module. If Instagram content curators happen upon a photo of mine they would like to use for advertising purposes, I’m happy to sell them the photo for this purpose. To be clear – I want their business to continue to be successful but not by trampling on the content makers that make Instagram such a success in the first place. How difficult would it be to set up a photographer fee schedule for those users who would be interested in selling photos for Instagram advertising?
