Time for another blog status update post.
Goodbye, Instagram
I’ve decided to shutter the site’s Instagram page. I created a new page last spring so I could have at least one “mainstream” social media presence (Bluesky and Mastodon aren’t “mainstream”) for the site. Unfortunately, it hasn’t exactly driven much traffic to the site, nor are there many subscribers (a whopping eight(!) followers as of this writing).
On top of that and the usual algorithm-based throttling of posts, Meta’s also engaged in a few questionable actions (well, more so than usual) over the past week. Last week, a planned update to their user policy stated that Meta could scrape any URLs tied to Instagram business accounts, which would include users’ own websites. And since Meta is all in on AI, one guess why they’d scrape said sites. The following day (and after some backlash), Meta removed the proposal.
On Saturday, Instagram temporarily suspended the “No Kings” protest movement’s account, on the day nationwide “No Kings” protests took place. Meta claims it was an “error” triggered by heavy account activity.
Even in spite of Meta’s backpedaling or excuses, I’m thinking there’s not much point in continuing use of my Instagram account. I thought it might be useful, but so far, it’s just been more extra work for no results. Thus, I’ve opted to shutter it. The page for now will stay up, but with no further updates (and the link to my site removed, just in case). I’m still pondering whether or not to outright delete my Instagram account.
Few alternatives to Instagram
I’ve written before about possible Instagram alternatives. However, it’s hard to think of ones that are A) mainstream (i.e., not ActivityPub-based ones like Mastodon/Pixelfed, or the AT Protocol-based Bluesky), B) not owned by Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, and C) doesn’t require a “pivot to video.” Which leaves… not many options. The ones that come to mind: Pinterest; Tumblr; LinkedIn; Reddit; and Discord. Unfortunately, all of them are involved in some way or other with AI; looking at each one specifically:
- Pinterest I’ve used before, but everyone’s reaction to the site seems “people looking for furniture/clothes” and “nuisance images showing up in Google search.”
- Tumblr I briefly tried after leaving Twitter. It’s currently owned by Automattic (the people behind WordPress) and its problematic owner.
- LinkedIn I generally use as a digital Rolodex (or “electronic address book,” to use a less dated analogy) for job searching. It’s also probably not the best place to post links about cartoon trivia (out of the need to look “professional”), so I’d be limited to my tech-related posts.
- Reddit I briefly tried, but between downvoting, the site frowning on anything resembling self-promotion, and encountering racist users, I got annoyed and quit.
- Discord I have for the sake of a Meetup.com group I go to, but it’s a chat app, not a place to post links to a blog.
So good luck with finding popular Instagram alternatives. Of course, there’s simply not bothering with finding an Instagram replacement and sticking with what I currently use (newsletter, Bluesky, Mastodon, Pixelfed), even if they’re not as mainstream.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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