You are browsing the archive for Facebook.

(Updated) Instagram’s new terms of service should trouble media outlets, photojournalists

December 18, 2012 in General Media, social media

UPDATE (5 pm CST 12-18-12): Instagram has posted a blog post declaring that they are going to be revising the revised TOS. “Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we’d like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing. To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear.”

Yesterday, Instagram announced some new terms of service, and the social media/journalism commentariat is abuzz with some of the changes. Among the changes that should trouble student media outlets is this one which has professional photographers and privacy rights activists alike worried:

“You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you,”

This even applies to minors:

If you are under the age of eighteen (18), or under any other applicable age of majority, you represent that at least one of your parents or legal guardians has also agreed to this provision (and the use of your name, likeness, username, and/or photos (along with any associated metadata)) on your behalf.

Seriously, every 14-year-old’s parents reads the TOS on every app on his/her iPod Touch. /eyeroll.

I am not a lawyer, but I don’t think anyone should be comfortable with signing over a blanket personal model release to a company to sell your image or personal photographs. Wil Wheaton outlined some of the troubling aspects of this in a blog post: regarding instagram’s new Terms of Service.

Here’s what I’m wondering: if Kaley Cuoco uses Instagram to share a photo of her and Melissa Rauch doing something silly, does that mean that Instagram can take that photo and use it to advertise for something silly without compensating them for what becomes a use of their likeness for commercial purposes? I can see that being a pretty serious shitstorm if it happens. I’m not a big enough celebrity for it to personally affect me, but I know a lot of people who are. If someone Instagrams a photo of Seth Green walking through an Urban Outfitters, does that mean Urban Outfitters can take that image and use it to create an implied endorsement by Seth? What if the picture is taken by a complete stranger? Who gets final say in how the image is used? The subject, the photographer, or Instagram?

For college media outlets, the problem is different. Your photographers are out covering events, taking photographs that are important to your news operation and your brand. Do you want some company using your photographs without permission or payment to promote their products? I don’t.

In the past, I’ve recommended that college media outlets get on the social network of Instagram to share breaking news photos and other images within the network (I’ve recommended similar things about Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc.), but I’m reconsidering that recommendation until more and better information about this change is forthcoming.

I’m not sure how this will play out. Facebook (who owns Instagram) has a history of trying stupid stuff with their privacy policies only to walk them back when users pushed back. Maybe that will be the case with Instagram as well. For now, the new TOS go into effect Jan. 16, 2013. If you use the service after that, you’re agreeing to those terms.

For those who are concerned about this, here’s a post at Wired about how to download your photos from Instagram and cancel your account. Also, I’d suggest taking another look at Flickr. They just released a new iOS app with filters that are pretty comparable to Instagram’s, and more importantly, they give you a way to control how your content is used. Here’s a post from 2011 where the company (owned by Yahoo!) reiterated their policy: At Flickr, your photos are always yours.

See below for some of the media coverage of this change.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , ,
5 Comments »

Google+ for journalism education and student media

August 28, 2011 in Carnival of Journalism

google_plus_logo-276x300This month, I’m making a contribution to the Carnival of Journalism, hosted by Kathy Gill. The topic: What does Google+ mean for journalists, today and tomorrow?

I have been using Google+ (I hate that + symbol, I’ll just spell it Google Plus from now on – what’s the AP style on that, anyway?) for about two months now, since soon after it launched.

As background, I have to confess that I don’t use Facebook that much. Blog posts from the ICM weblog are autofed into my “Feed,” but beyond that, I’m not on there much. So I don’t necessarily have a large area of comparisons to make between FB and Google Plus. But I do follow Twitter closely when I’m near a computer or the iPad.

That said, I do like the way Google Plus lets you put people into Circles. I can see this being useful for a journalist once more people adopt the platform (assuming that they do). Also, for an educator, it can be a useful way to organize students into classes – intro to journalism, for instance – and then feed information only to those circles.

In this particular feature, Google Plus distances itself from Facebook. Maybe there’s a way to organize people into different “categories” on Facebook. I don’t know, and I really don’t care to take the time to find out. It’s pretty easy on Google Plus.

I’ve also used the Hangout feature twice, and found it useful. In one interview, I talked to people in two different places, so I could use the video feature and see everyone I was talking with. This is not a “new” feature, necessarily, as iChat has had the ability to videochat with more than one person for a while.

But it is seamlessly integrated with Google products (you do need to download a plug-in for it to work with your webcam). Others have used the Hangout feature for press conferences. I imagine there are people who have used it for meetings, as you can have up to 10 webcams in one “hangout.”

This could be useful for a journalism instructor to host a webchat with professionals around the world so that students could interact with several professionals from the local classroom.

For a student journalist,  it could be a good way to conduct an interview with a subject who’s not easily accessible for an in-person interview (taking the place of the phone interview).

Another feature I’ve used is the integration with smart phones. I can take a photograph on my Android phone and it’s automatically uploaded to Google Plus (you can set this feature to automatically publish the photo, too). I can then go into Google Plus on the web and tweak the photo, add a cutline or other information, and then publish it to my stream. This would be more useful for journalistic purposes than in the classroom.

The main drawback for a more consistent use of Google Plus in the academy, in my opinion, is the lack of adoption.

It’s only been around two months, and although there are a lot of people I follow from Twitter already using it some, they are mostly early adopters.

And there are a number of people in my circles who joined and haven’t posted anything yet.

Certainly, this is going to be a huge obstacle for Google Plus to overcome. By comparison, Facebook started on high school and college campuses, and thus built a reliable core of users before everyone could join.

On the other hand, Twitter seems to have captured the market at the moment with regard to “breaking news” or instant updates. Until Google Plus begins to feed updates like Twitter, it won’t take over that space. But I’m not sure that’s the space Google wants to occupy.

Also, Google Plus still has a “beta product” feel to it. Early users have had complaints about the use of real names, and the lack of “corporate” accounts. I’m sure Google will iron out these issues, but in the meantime, it still seems somewhat “toy-like.”

Of course, all this could change in 6 months, or a year. I expect it will. And I think it would be wise to revisit this topic in the future.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , ,
4 Comments »