社交媒體交惡,無辜用戶遭殃
????如果你在Twitter上的Instagram照片看起來有點問題,要知道這可不是偶然情況,而是被刻意設(shè)計的。 ????上周初,Instagram的首席執(zhí)行官凱文?希斯特羅姆在歐洲的技術(shù)大會Le Web上當(dāng)眾宣布,將不再為“Twitter卡片”提供支持。Twitter在一篇博客中對此所做的解釋是,這主要意味著當(dāng)用戶點擊一條帶有Instagram鏈接的微博時,顯示的圖片將是殘缺不全的。而且這些圖片最終將在Twitter上完全消失。用戶以后只能在Twitter上發(fā)圖片鏈接,這些鏈接會重新導(dǎo)向Instagram的主頁。 ????希斯特羅姆這么做的理由何在?他向與會者表示:“我們希望引導(dǎo)用戶訪問內(nèi)容原始所在地,”并稱近期經(jīng)過大幅改版的Instagram主頁能提供更好的用戶體驗。換言之:Instagram是在有意削弱用戶在Twitter上的體驗,以便他們能直接訪問自己的主頁。 ????從純商業(yè)角度來說,此舉合情合理。不讓自己的產(chǎn)品在其他地方出現(xiàn),這樣,自己的忠實用戶——Instagram的忠實用戶已超過1億人——就可能鏈接到產(chǎn)品的源頭,在本文中這就是Instagram的主頁。Instagram早已推出過數(shù)次引發(fā)爭議的舉動,此次與“Twitter卡片”分道揚鑣絕談不上是頭一樁,而只能算是其中之一。不過,考慮到這兩家公司的關(guān)系,這并不意味著這一舉措不讓人詫異:Twitter聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人杰克?多爾西看好Instagram,還是它的早期投資人;并且,平心而論,Instagram初期之所以能快速增長,部分要歸功于它讓用戶能在Twitter上輕松分享經(jīng)數(shù)碼過濾的照片的功能。 ????今年年初,兩家公司的關(guān)系開始變得不太和諧。當(dāng)時有報道稱(而且事實的確如此),Twitter有意收購Instagram。然而就在四月,F(xiàn)acebook公司捷足先登,以近10億美元的報價收購了Instagram,成為一樁里程碑式的交易。三個月后,Twitter就停掉了Instagram的“找朋友”(Find Friends)功能?,F(xiàn)在,據(jù)《紐約時報》(The New York Times)報道,Twitter正在開發(fā)自己的照片過濾和分享功能,可能會與Instagram展開直接競爭。 ????盡管希斯特羅姆曾表示此舉并非有意“報復(fù)”,但人們很難不這么想。與此同時,由于Instagram的新東家近幾個月來明顯大幅增強了其網(wǎng)上和移動設(shè)備上的照片功能,Twitter展開自衛(wèi)反擊行動也就在情理之中了。 |
????If your Instagram photos look wonky on Twitter, remember that's not by accident. It's by design. ????Earlier this week, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom announced onstage at Europe's tech conference Le Web that the popular photo-sharing start-up was killing support for "Twitter cards." As Twitter explained in a post, this basically means when users click Tweets with an Instagram link, photos will show up cropped and incomplete. Eventually, those photos disappear from Twitter altogether. Users will only be able to post photo links to the social network that reroute to Instagram.com. ????Systrom's reasoning? "We want to direct users to where the content lives originally," he told the conference audience, claiming that the recently revamped Instagram.com, now with web profiles, provides a better user experience. In other words: Instagram is purposefully handicapping the Instagram experience on Twitter so users will go to its own website. ????From a purely business perspective, the move make sense. Amputate your product found elsewhere, and loyal users -- of which Instagram has over 100 million -- will be likely to go to the source, in this case, Instagram.com. And pulling Twitter card integration is hardly the first contentious move Instagram has made. It's actually one of several. That doesn't mean it is not surprising, given the ties the two had: Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was an early investor and advocate, and it's fair to say Instagram owes some of its early, rapid growth to features enabling users to easily share those digitally filtered snapshots on Twitter itself. ????Earlier this year, the relationship soured. Instagram, which was reportedly (and seriously) being courted by Twitter for acquisition, got snapped up by Facebook (FB) last April in a landmark deal then valued at nearly $1 billion. Three months later, Twitter effectively disabled Instagram's "Find Friends" feature that let users find one another. Now, as The New York Times reports, Twitter is developing its own photo-filter and sharing feature, one that would arguably compete directly with Instagram itself. ????Although Systrom has said the move is not intended as a form of "retribution," it's hard not to view it as anything but. Meanwhile, Twitter's own aggressive behavior is understandable given Instagram's new owner, which in recent months, has made visible strides to beef up its own photo features online and on mobile. |