Instagram to kill off its Frankensteins
As I blogged a few weeks ago, Instagram can create super users on its platform. It simply features someone on their suggested user list and - boom - follower numbers through the proverbial roof. And people being people, many of these super users wondered if they could make some money out of this e-fame kindly bestowed on them by Instagram. So they knocked on a few doors and found, yes indeed, many companies were very interested in the idea of pictures of their shoes (or whatever they produce) being distributed to hundreds of thousands of people (whether they liked it or not). Which in turn got Instagram thinking. Oh dear, we’re gonna be swamping our users with tons of electronic junk picture mail. Not good for the brand.
At least Dr Frankenstein only had one monster. Instagram has hundreds. And removing followers isn’t as easy as creating them. But it seems they’re taking steps to turn back the clock. In an excellent blog, Michael Baranovic of MPG cites a leaked email in which Instagram says they’ve had enough of people clogging up their platform with ads and so will now be choosing their suggested users more carefully and rotating them more.
It’s definitely a step in the right direction. But how will they decide who gets the midas touch now? Would it be too much to hope they might choose ground-breaking innovative photography? Probably. After all, Instagram has to make money for its shareholders now. So whatever increases user numbers. It seems there will be more topical suggested users (eg Olympics users in the last few weeks) and we are guessing it will try to develop new geographies and demographics. But one thing’s for sure: no more Frankensteins.
No more Frankensteins
