Instagram is the latest social network to engage in a recent crackdown on various accounts that it viewed as violating its Terms of Service. A number of accounts that had been targeted were those which posted funny memes, with some of them using their accounts to make hundreds or thousands of dollars every month.
Now that they've been sent off Instagram, with many likely discouraged from posting there ever again, it's a great opportunity for alternative platforms to shine. Because there are other places that can hopefully provide an arena for content creators to post their art without the fear of being unnecessarily and unjustly purged from the platform as has been the case for so many on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram etc.
Twenty years ago it was unheard of for someone to have a job that consisted of posting memes on Instagram, of course the platform wasn't even invented yet. But today there are many social media influencers who rely heavily on being able to post their content there, and as social media expert K Ruby has pointed out, it's getting increasingly difficult for businesses to rely solely on revenue that's coming from those platforms like Instagram and Youtube.
It isn't known exactly how many people might have been impacted by the various purges that have happened on these different platforms over the last several years. It wasn't that long ago that Tumblr took to banning adult content that was posted on their platform. Twitter has removed millions of accounts, and for Facebook they've allegedly removed billions of fake accounts.
Aside from Instagram removing a variety of pages, they've also upset creators recently with their changes to remove likes from visibility in a number of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Canada, Japan, Italy, and New Zealand.
It might not be a move everyone disagrees with, but many say that they feel it negatively impacts their experience now on the platform. Some content creators also believe that they are receiving fewer likes and less exposure as a result. They say that they feel less motivation to post content as a result of the change, and if it has too much of a negative impact then we should expect Instagram to reverse that decision eventually. All of these changes provide a growing opportunity for alternative platforms to come in and fill the void, to meet the need in providing a place where content creators can post and hope to find an audience that will connect with or appreciate their work.
It's estimated that some 45 percent or more of the world population currently uses one social network or another. There is more than 1 million people who are believed to be starting a new social media journey every day.
Eventually, most of those users are going to use more than one site and hopefully they will trust one that gives them more control over their content than the others. A place where they can protect and showcase their content, without the fear of being purged in waves as so many have experienced on a variety of sites already.
