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Every single day, millions of people actively use the famous smartphone application, Instagram. In recent events Instagram altered its privacy policy terms. The gist of the statement was that Instagram would be able to sell its users photographs for advertising purposes without the consent of the user who uploaded the image.

Instagram’s co-founder Kevin Systrom attempted to clarify these conditions but to no avail. The irony of Instagram’s privacy policy was they simply took away their users right of privacy all together. To say the least, this new poetically written privacy policy went over with the public just about as well as finding out as a child Santa isn’t real-not well at all. As the public often reacts to unwarranted changes to their social media platforms (i.e. Facebook Timelines, Software Updates, etc.) the public was rash.

Millions of Instagram users either deleted their accounts or began using competing applications such as Flickr. Even Twitter created 16 photo filters. Competitors promised their users they would not abuse their users right to privacy as Instagram did. The path to success is somewhat like the game of Shoots & Latters. It’s elementary, you give the people what they want and your business will keep climbing up the latters of success.

On the contrary, if you disrupt that status quo with your customers your business will get bucked off it’s high horse quicker than it even got up there and down you will plummet to the bottom of that metaphorical shoot. In layman’s terms that’s called square one and that is exactly what Instagram did; it was back to the drawing board. Instgram’s short-lived, tragic, fall from grace taught them one thing: give the people what they want. Instragram’s original terms were reintroduced and it was up the latter of success once again.

Why should this even matter any more this news is past tense most people have already forgotten it was even an issue in the first place? Here’s why, we let these applications run our lives. I myself am an iphone user and the main reason why I wanted it was to be able to use applications such as Instagram. Why then was the public in such an uproar? For starters, people were concerned that their personal lives would be invaded and exposed for all to see. The real issue here isn’t that Instagram can change their Privacy Policy on a dime it’s that people post photos they don’t want to see the light of day and yet people continue posting photos of that nature.

For once society had a say in this process but what about next time when Instagram or any other social media platform for that matter refused to take back changes to their privacy policy? Food for thought but for now let us celebrate our win!