Why I Left Facebook and Instagram

Hey folks! In November 2024 I decided to stop posting my images to Facebook or Instagram and have deleted all my earlier images. But do not fear: Anyone interested in my photography can either get a free account on Flickr and follow me there (Flickr is where my new images usually first appear), or you just sign up to my Newsletter on this website and you’ll receive notification about once a month showcasing a recent image or two, as well as other goodies.

Why have I made this move? The main reason for this is because since June 2024 Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) has decided to use all public content, including text, interactions, photos and videos on its platforms to train its AI, including for generating images. Outside of the EU and a few other places there is no option to opt one’s content out of this use. If I post anything publicly on a Meta platform, I legally give Meta permission to use it to train its AI. In Canada and the US, they did not even let users know they were doing this.

I hate the idea of the time, work, energy, and whatever modicum of talent I might possess, that goes into the creation of my images, being used ultimately to generate profit for Mark Zuckerberg and cohort without any direct compensation to me. (Yes, I do understand that, implicitly, the “free” use of the platform could be seen as compensation.)

I also hate the idea that the generative AI images derived ultimately from the hard work of creatives ultimately works to undermine their ability to profit from their labours.

So I’m choosing, insofar as such choices are available to me, to not be part of that process. I haven’t used Instagram for ages anyway, because – and this is the other reason – it sucks so much for photography.

I’m still maintaining my accounts for social contacts and to share news and announcements, so if you have friended me or follow me on those platforms please do stay connected. As blog articles – under the website rubric: Perspectives – get written (I have quite a few already written and which will be posted over time), I’ll post a notification on those sites for anyone not receiving my Newsletter.

Take care, and happy snapping.

Martin