Seeing as I just started using Instagram last week when it first became available for Android, it’s hard for me to muster outrage over the fact today Facebook bought it for $1 billion.
But apparently people are upset.
I know because I’ve seen it on people’s Facebook feeds! Your previously semi-private photographs will soon become property of Facebook where, one assumes, Zuckerberg will laugh at them while swirling a snifter of brandy and “Liking” your shame.
(MORE: Facebook to Acquire Instagram Photo-Sharing App)
Don’t panic! There’s still time to escape — do you hear me? First thing you’re going to want to do is export all of your photos. You can do this by using a handy tool called Instaport which lets you download all of your Instagram photos in a .zip file.
Now all of your photos are safely on your hard drive. Save them there until the Instaprint project on Kickstarter gets fully funded; afterwards, you can print them out and have physical copies of your Instagram photos. Keep them in a shoebox – the original Facebook Timeline!
Okay, it’s time to delete your Instagram account. Click on this link and pick a reason why you’re quitting. Seeing as there’s no “AARGH WHY FACEBOOK HOW COULD YOU I AM ANGRY!” option, we recommend choosing “Can’t find friends,” because that just sounds sad and might evoke pathos in some lonely Facebook employee.
So, you’re off the grid. Now it’s time to pick an alternative, because not taking hazy, sepia-tinged pictures of old bicycles and your cat is not an option. Try PicPlz, Pixlr-o-matic or Hipster, which, quite honestly, is what Instagram should have been called in the first place.
Or you could just calm down because it’s not like you haven’t already shared all of your personal information with Facebook already.
MORE: Kevin Systrom Says Comparing Instagram to Photography Is Like ‘Comparing Twitter to Microsoft Word’
[via Gizmodo, The Next Web]