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Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

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Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#51

Post by doubleemms »

chii wrote: post #28
im3w1l wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Call me paranoid but it seems increasingly that Big Tech uses all their avenues to force conformity. The message is that if you don't do what we want, bad things start happening. It can happen anytime anywhere and you wont necessarily know why. It's about encouraging a helpless, submissive, fearful mentality. Maybe they'll no longer show you as verified. Maybe your posts will be demoted a bit in the feed. Maybe you n…

> it seems increasingly that Big Tech uses all their avenues to force conformity. because these big tech companies are all dependent on advertising revenue, and thus converge to advertiser friendly behaviour.

exactly. the ad-based model skews incentives.

Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#52

Post by axus »

mc32 wrote: post #19
waterhouse wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can think of one use case for de-verifying: when someone's account seems to have been hacked.

Ok, but when you lose your drivers’ license (or your “friend” “borrows” it) you don’t get your license suspended... Your case would imply there is a confirmation interval... which I don’t think is the case.

Your passport is "unverified" when you report it stolen.

Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#53

Post by giancarlostoro »

mc32 wrote: post #7

This “verified” nonsense is silly. Twitter knew who Assange was but refused to “verify” him. They should change what they call verified to another label like “goodie two-shoes” instead. As it is is a complete misnomer. It’s basically used to get users to behave a certain way and if they don’t conform they don’t get verified or if they are verified it gets revoked.

Worse a musician I followed on Instagram got hacked. There's no way to report "This account has been hacked." or any sort of custom report. I had to pick a random one which was then denied. I don't understand why they don't have sane security settings for verified accounts, otherwise what's the point. The musicians a Christian to had gone to jail and used to do drugs and speaks out against those things, the person who took it over has 666 on their name and other inappropriate things which is adding salt to the wound.

If your account can get hacked and never retrieved, what's it worth being verified?

Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#55

Post by doubleemms »

fhennig wrote: post #33

Every now and then there are these news, where platform owners "abuse" their power on the platform to do something in their favor. I remember an example where HN discussed about how "Amazon's choice" doesn't mean that it's a good product, it's likely just a product which generates a lot of revenue for amazon. It should be of no surprise that plaform owners will behave in this way. I think the way forward should be pr…

Yes! So much this!

You can choose your email provider, or your cell phone carrier, and no matter who you choose, you'll still be able to email and text/call others (regardless of who _they_ choose).

But you can't choose a new Facebook provider. There's no recourse if a given platform is behaving badly, and the network effect just reinforces their hold on users.

Open protocols free users to make choices about providers and foster competition based on the service provided instead of having to "choose" to go where the people already are.

Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#56

Post by nilkn »

sschueller wrote: post #26
mc32 wrote: post #7

This “verified” nonsense is silly. Twitter knew who Assange was but refused to “verify” him. They should change what they call verified to another label like “goodie two-shoes” instead. As it is is a complete misnomer. It’s basically used to get users to behave a certain way and if they don’t conform they don’t get verified or if they are verified it gets revoked.

Youtube recently decided to change their requirements to become verified. They emailed existing verified users that they no longer meet these requirements and therefore will loose the "verified" status. Completely insane.

For what it’s worth, my understanding is they were actually trying to fix the situation but users conceptualize being “verified” as a sign of status and so got upset. A lot of YouTubers are currently “verified” for whom there is no risk of mistaking them for a clone account. The only real point is for YouTube to verify the channels of actual celebrities who will get lots of copycats and are known off the platform.

Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#57

Post by mosselman »

im3w1l wrote: post #15
mosselman wrote: post #6

What I think is the problem is the terminology. 'Verified' makes it sound like there is some identity checking going on. It is nonsense to say that because someone is posting on 2 platforms, they suddenly aren't who they say they are. If you use the term 'affiliate' or 'partner' it is a different story. If you are posting on 2 or more platforms, it is logical for all involved platforms to not feel like partners anymo…

Call me paranoid but it seems increasingly that Big Tech uses all their avenues to force conformity. The message is that if you don't do what we want, bad things start happening. It can happen anytime anywhere and you wont necessarily know why. It's about encouraging a helpless, submissive, fearful mentality. Maybe they'll no longer show you as verified. Maybe your posts will be demoted a bit in the feed. Maybe you n…

It sucks for those 'influencers', but how are they surprised? Aren't they in on the marketing game? The chose this fake job themselves right? You don't see Conan O'Brien as a main act on 2 TV networks at the same time, because that is not how the advertisement game works.

Instead of investing time and effort in online identities, we should invest in our offline identities. Investing in your local community, friends, family, etc is a lot more secure than some online persona on a platform you have zero control over.

An alternative would be to invest time and effort in decentralised platforms like mastodon, but even there you'd be dependent on the whims of the masses and thus advertisers. And even then, what do you have at the end of the day? Some virtual kudos and likes from people you would avoid in real life? Money if you are lucky.

Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#59

Post by danShumway »

> Links asking someone to add you on another service aren’t supported on Instagram

That's some weasel-wording right there. "Not supported" makes it sound like this is a feature they'd need to code that they haven't gotten around to yet. It's not -- they needed to take the time to explicitly block something that would otherwise work by default.

Phrasing it as "Links asking someone to add you on another service are not allowed on Instagram" would be more honest, but also make it obvious what they're doing. So instead, they go out of their way to phrase it as something out of their control rather than as a deliberate policy.

Re: Instagram Threatened Removal of Verified Status for Posting Snapchat Content

#60

Post by sschueller »

nilkn wrote: post #56
sschueller wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Youtube recently decided to change their requirements to become verified. They emailed existing verified users that they no longer meet these requirements and therefore will loose the "verified" status. Completely insane.

For what it’s worth, my understanding is they were actually trying to fix the situation but users conceptualize being “verified” as a sign of status and so got upset. A lot of YouTubers are currently “verified” for whom there is no risk of mistaking them for a clone account. The only real point is for YouTube to verify the channels of actual celebrities who will get lots of copycats and are known off the platform.

But if your ID has been "verified", why would you all of a sudden no longer be verified unless the verification was fraudulent?

To verify yourself on instagram etc. you need to submit identification etc. . Once you have done that there should be no reason to take that away from you if valid.

You are still you unless maybe you get married and your name changes which could require a re-verification and if the policy was changed that you don't qualify for verification it would be fair for you to be no longer verified.

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