Article claims Instagram puts friends on suggested user list
Journalists love the story about Instagram power users making money from the followings given them via the suggested user list. A recent article goes through all the stuff that we’ve heard many times before. Graphic designer in New York wants to quit day job, joins Instagram, takes some nice photos, gets massive following and starts making money for shoe manufacturers by feeding photos of shoes to their massive followings. Except they usually miss out the important bit. To get their massive followings, they had to get on the “suggested user list”. No, they didn’t take such stunningly lovely photos that the world just couldn’t ignore them. What happened was, someone at Instagram thought, hey, this guy’s photos might be attractive to businesses (and therefore good for Instagram’s business), let’s give him a chunk of following. At least this article makes indirect reference to this mechanism even if they still seem unable (or unwilling) to draw a direct link between the list and the size of the following.
One thing is being put on the suggested user list because Instagram thinks your photographic style will work well with the sort of businesses that will further boost Instagram’s value. But it’s another thing when Instagram puts someone on the suggested user list just because they’re friends with them. In a stunningly blithe statement, in this article the journalist describes how one particular user got on the suggested user list in precisely this way: “Fortunately for O’Neal, his circle included Zollman, who selected him for Instagram’s coveted suggested user list.” So in an article that describes how people can make money by being on Instagram, this journalist explains how Instagram employees can effectively hand out money to their friends. Isn’t that nepotism? You might say, yes, but it’s a victim-less crime really. But don’t new users who follow a suggested user do so because they think they are recommended on some sort of photographic merit and, second, don’t businesses pay good money to power users (partly) because they think those users are good photographers? As is the way with many businesses run along nepotistic lines, in the end, the victim will be Instagram, because by trying to attract brands in this way, it will eventually harm its own brand.
Not seeing the important bit?
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