So Long Instagram. Hello Flickr.

This morning, I deleted my Instagram account.

I enjoyed using Instagram – it was a great place for me to follow my favorite artists. I primarily used the service to share my creative works-in-progress. So why did I delete my account?

Simply put: Instagram’s new terms of service.

Under the new terms of service, effective January 16th, Instagram can monetize your photos for ads. That means that photo of you in front of your Dell monitor can be used as an ad, in perpetuity, by Instagram. And worse, these ads won’t appear as ads in your Instagram stream. Also, under the new terms Instagram has the right to sell your photos without payment or notification, without any method for users to opt out.

I’m not mad at Instagram. As a service, they have to make money. But I really wish there was an option for users to pay a monthly (or annual) fee to keep things as they are now.

Ever since Instagram’s acquisition by Facebook, its days as a fun, free service were numbered. What I’m going to miss about Instagram most is its strong sense of community. But given the new terms of service, that might start to crumble now.

Where does that leave me? I’ll be using my Flickr account a lot more now…

-Krishna

useful links: How to Delete Your Instagram Account

Update: Instagram has since “clarified” their terms of service. It’s a moot point in my case, as I’ve closed my account and have no intention of going back.

Krishna December 18, 2012