This is horrifying. Truly a new low for Meta (though I can’t say I’m entirely surprised). Yes, it’s a free platform and many of us have benefited from it. But it was creators who built Instagram. You could easily argue that it wouldn’t be what it is today if so many bloggers hadn’t moved their communities there in the early days.
This feels like theft (though I do wonder what we technically signed away when we joined the platform?), not to mention the brand dilution that comes from linking cheap, random products to your photos. It reminds me of when Amazon sellers would steal creators’ images to sell knockoffs. I just wish there were something we could do, some sort of collective action to take. A boycott feels apropos, but I worry it would be just a drop in the bucket. I feel powerless. And I’m reallllllly grateful that we’ve both continued investing in our blogs and leaned so heavily into Substack.
I worry that Instagram is only going to get worse for creators, especially with the rise of AI-generated accounts. My feed is at least 50% people I don’t follow, and a good portion of that seems AI-generated. Sometimes I can’t tell whether a post was created by a human.
I don’t know if you and Thomas have read Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, but it completely changed how I view Meta and Instagram. It’s an excellent (and eye-opening) read — and a great listen on Audible.
Worse yet, Amazon will create its own knockoff when its own data supports a new emerging product trend or category, stealing the original design and undermining the original company that created it. It's modern-day, data-driven capitalism. Insidious tactics. Thankfully, many companies are going direct-to-consumer, foregoing the Amazon marketplace out of fear of having the same happen to them.
I don't mean to sound callous here, but how is this surprising in any way? The writing's been on the wall for years, and this is just another way the modern media landscape is rearing its ugly head.
Meta has been playing the same game since its inception. Incentivize creators with the golden carrot and a promise of quick reach and influencer riches, only to chop reach and exploit their users' content with every algo update over time. There's a reason why META is a stock portfolio darling in finance circles - it's cuz they're really good at what they do.
Meta will not permit users to integrate with outside merchants via affiliate links, I am willing to bet big on that. The walled garden they established from the beginning is fundamental to their continued success, and with Instagram being synonymous with social media globally, they are too big to fail. Droves of creators cannot afford to leave the platform, particularly those who have decided to publish most of their content and have abandoned (or never started) their own site, where they can wield full control over content distribution and monetization. Smart on your end to never have abandoned your own blog, like so many others have, especially the OGs in the space.
It's beneficial to remind yourself regularly that you *are* the product when the service is offered for free. You clicked to accept their terms, so they can commence with their fuckery anytime they choose.
Coming from a PR background and working in advertising for nearly 8 years now, what’s the most interesting to me is the point you made about IG using your face and image to promote these dupes without your consent. I would be curious to know if there is a potential class action suit here regarding the Right of Publicity which varies by state but generally states a business cannot use your likeness or image to sell a product without your consent. I wonder if this is something we sign away within IG’s platform terms?
I doubt it! Instagram (Meta) and their team are too big. I’m sure they have this all covered in our user agreement— somewhere in there we have given away these rights most likely.
The comment from the former Meta employee is chilling. Props to you guys for keeping the blog alive this entire time! Sharon McMahon is doing something similar for being censored over political content on Meta and driving viewers to substack!
All you have to do is read the book Careless People by the former Meta high level employee to understand the complete lack of caring about any human beings on earth (except themselves) by Zuckerberg and all of his henchpeople. The book 1984 lays it out - "The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power." Truly one of the grossest companies that we are giving all of our attention and therefore our money, and money equals power. All of this to say, I'm not surprised.
Wow! Thank you for saying this. I guess Instagram thinks the quick money earned by a click is more important than earned trust. I will only click on things you explicitly link to via Substack.
This is hugely problematic, for all the reasons you mention!! And for creators who have had their children or families as part of their work at any stage, even if they don't anymore, this is terrifying. Meta is grossly abusing trust here.
Just left my full-time job working at Facebook & Instagram and I’ve had this feature for months! Now I’ve gone full-time with content creation so I hope if enough of us speak up about it they will at least allow us to opt out. 😔 I also know that it’s likely within the terms of us using it as a platform sadly…
Thank you for acting so swiftly in platforming this concern! Question about the development of Coreli as it’s been very exciting to watch what Thomas is building: with this Meta development coming to light and knowing that the Coreli landing page is built to incorporate and seemingly draw style inspo from one’s Instagram posts to create their signature look, how might the Coreli team consider shifting its data-sourcing if creators choose to rely on Instagram less? Hope that makes sense!
Thomas here. My dream is to incorporate a feed of everyone's content where they're publishing all over the place. Everything you do, all back in one spot
Pinterest has been doing this for as long as I can remember. They at least have an option to opt out of it, and. You can instead add your own links. I recall AGES ago when Instagram had an option for us to create a "shop" so we could tag products. I don't know where that went, but would be nice to manually add our own things with our own links.
Absolutely insane that this is happening on ADS too! I can't even believe it.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. What about the Lanham act, is that a legal leg to stand on regarding this issue? There’s got it be SOMETHING. This is incredibly deceitful.
I run the content creation practice at my agency - this is shocking but also not - simultaneously. Thank you for shining a light on this practice - this helps me to ensure we craft creator contracts that reward direct engagement and not just relying on IG's analytics.
This is horrifying. Truly a new low for Meta (though I can’t say I’m entirely surprised). Yes, it’s a free platform and many of us have benefited from it. But it was creators who built Instagram. You could easily argue that it wouldn’t be what it is today if so many bloggers hadn’t moved their communities there in the early days.
This feels like theft (though I do wonder what we technically signed away when we joined the platform?), not to mention the brand dilution that comes from linking cheap, random products to your photos. It reminds me of when Amazon sellers would steal creators’ images to sell knockoffs. I just wish there were something we could do, some sort of collective action to take. A boycott feels apropos, but I worry it would be just a drop in the bucket. I feel powerless. And I’m reallllllly grateful that we’ve both continued investing in our blogs and leaned so heavily into Substack.
I worry that Instagram is only going to get worse for creators, especially with the rise of AI-generated accounts. My feed is at least 50% people I don’t follow, and a good portion of that seems AI-generated. Sometimes I can’t tell whether a post was created by a human.
I don’t know if you and Thomas have read Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, but it completely changed how I view Meta and Instagram. It’s an excellent (and eye-opening) read — and a great listen on Audible.
Really hoping this post makes an impact. Xx
Worse yet, Amazon will create its own knockoff when its own data supports a new emerging product trend or category, stealing the original design and undermining the original company that created it. It's modern-day, data-driven capitalism. Insidious tactics. Thankfully, many companies are going direct-to-consumer, foregoing the Amazon marketplace out of fear of having the same happen to them.
I don't mean to sound callous here, but how is this surprising in any way? The writing's been on the wall for years, and this is just another way the modern media landscape is rearing its ugly head.
Meta has been playing the same game since its inception. Incentivize creators with the golden carrot and a promise of quick reach and influencer riches, only to chop reach and exploit their users' content with every algo update over time. There's a reason why META is a stock portfolio darling in finance circles - it's cuz they're really good at what they do.
Meta will not permit users to integrate with outside merchants via affiliate links, I am willing to bet big on that. The walled garden they established from the beginning is fundamental to their continued success, and with Instagram being synonymous with social media globally, they are too big to fail. Droves of creators cannot afford to leave the platform, particularly those who have decided to publish most of their content and have abandoned (or never started) their own site, where they can wield full control over content distribution and monetization. Smart on your end to never have abandoned your own blog, like so many others have, especially the OGs in the space.
It's beneficial to remind yourself regularly that you *are* the product when the service is offered for free. You clicked to accept their terms, so they can commence with their fuckery anytime they choose.
You are 1000% correct.
I usually am. Tell Megs this. kthnxbye.
Hahahaha I will 🤣
Coming from a PR background and working in advertising for nearly 8 years now, what’s the most interesting to me is the point you made about IG using your face and image to promote these dupes without your consent. I would be curious to know if there is a potential class action suit here regarding the Right of Publicity which varies by state but generally states a business cannot use your likeness or image to sell a product without your consent. I wonder if this is something we sign away within IG’s platform terms?
I doubt it! Instagram (Meta) and their team are too big. I’m sure they have this all covered in our user agreement— somewhere in there we have given away these rights most likely.
The comment from the former Meta employee is chilling. Props to you guys for keeping the blog alive this entire time! Sharon McMahon is doing something similar for being censored over political content on Meta and driving viewers to substack!
Yes! Chilling — and not the only one we received.
All you have to do is read the book Careless People by the former Meta high level employee to understand the complete lack of caring about any human beings on earth (except themselves) by Zuckerberg and all of his henchpeople. The book 1984 lays it out - "The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power." Truly one of the grossest companies that we are giving all of our attention and therefore our money, and money equals power. All of this to say, I'm not surprised.
Downloading it now.
Wow! Thank you for saying this. I guess Instagram thinks the quick money earned by a click is more important than earned trust. I will only click on things you explicitly link to via Substack.
Thank you!
Well said!!!! Can you keep us posted on if Mosseri acknowledge y'all!?
This is hugely problematic, for all the reasons you mention!! And for creators who have had their children or families as part of their work at any stage, even if they don't anymore, this is terrifying. Meta is grossly abusing trust here.
Just left my full-time job working at Facebook & Instagram and I’ve had this feature for months! Now I’ve gone full-time with content creation so I hope if enough of us speak up about it they will at least allow us to opt out. 😔 I also know that it’s likely within the terms of us using it as a platform sadly…
Thank you for acting so swiftly in platforming this concern! Question about the development of Coreli as it’s been very exciting to watch what Thomas is building: with this Meta development coming to light and knowing that the Coreli landing page is built to incorporate and seemingly draw style inspo from one’s Instagram posts to create their signature look, how might the Coreli team consider shifting its data-sourcing if creators choose to rely on Instagram less? Hope that makes sense!
Thomas here. My dream is to incorporate a feed of everyone's content where they're publishing all over the place. Everything you do, all back in one spot
It’s sickening that anyone ever thought this was an okay idea. I’m still reeling from the discovery. Hopefully this discussion will spark a change.
Truly!
Felt this! Well said. Creators are taken for granted too often.
Far too often. And for those who don’t care about creators — this has a trickle down impact on nearly everyone!
Pinterest has been doing this for as long as I can remember. They at least have an option to opt out of it, and. You can instead add your own links. I recall AGES ago when Instagram had an option for us to create a "shop" so we could tag products. I don't know where that went, but would be nice to manually add our own things with our own links.
Absolutely insane that this is happening on ADS too! I can't even believe it.
ugh. i'm so sorry. this is why we pivot to substack.
I am really sorry this is happening to you. It is really upsetting and though it might be legal in the literal sense, it seems criminal to me.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. What about the Lanham act, is that a legal leg to stand on regarding this issue? There’s got it be SOMETHING. This is incredibly deceitful.
I run the content creation practice at my agency - this is shocking but also not - simultaneously. Thank you for shining a light on this practice - this helps me to ensure we craft creator contracts that reward direct engagement and not just relying on IG's analytics.