I was very close to leaving Instagram after I started seeing political ads a few weeks ago. I have never been on Facebook and deeply dislike some of the choices the company has made. However, I could always rationalize being on Instagram because politics has such a low profile on the service. Politics was rarely discussed (at least in my feed) and there were no political ads. I referenced this in a post I wrote about rejoining the service a few years ago. It’s really what kept me hanging on to Instagram after Facebook decided to allow dishonesty in political ads on their platform.
Once the ads started to appear, I stopped opening the Instagram app. I had not yet deleted my account, waiting and hoping that things would change. It appears that they will soon do just that, according to this Facebook post.
Political ads play an important role in every election – and this year will be no exception. People have told us they want the option to see fewer political ads on Facebook and Instagram. After announcing this feature earlier this year we are now making it available as part of our preparations for the 2020 US elections.
I’m happy to hear this because I enjoy Instagram. I’m just disappointed that the OwnYourGram service that syndicates Instagram posts to your blog no longer seems to work.
