Facebook, Instagram & The Future Of Photo Sharing

Just woke up and saw the news.

Facebook has bought Instagram — a two-year-old, profitless app with just a handful of employees — for one gajillion dollars.

So, without having really read any of the articles, allow me to make a few random, unconnected and mostly uninformed comments.

One, where's my slice? I want $1 for every like received and $10 for every new follower. Seems only fair.

Two, prepare for Zuckerberg to own the rights to all your photos. It will happen and you won't even notice it. Trust me.

Three, why work hard and build a successful career at, well anything really, when you can make an app in eight weeks and sell it for a squillion dollars? My future is clear.

Four, with Android and now Facebook, prepare for everything bad about Instagram (i.e. shirtless, self-taking teen douchés and fame-whores) to increase exponentially. Things are going to get uglier.

Five, hopefully I'm wrong, but this could very well be the beginning of the end. Start planning your exit strategies now people.

Five Facts About Me

Among the many delightfully narcissitic trends doing the rounds on Instagram lately is the 'Five Facts About Me Challenge', whereby users post five riveting things about themselves (e.g. "I love dogs!") alongside the usual photo. Never one to miss out on the latest trends, I decided to join in with the following little know facts about yours truly.

1. I have an identical twin brother (pictured) who is two years younger than me. (It was a long labour.)
2. I am fluent in four languages: English, Australian, American and New Zealandish.
3. I have a rare medical condition known as pharyngotympanic choanasitis, meaning I breathe through my ears instead of my nose.
4. I sleep hanging upside down in a cupboard.
5. I'm afraid of heights, spiders and post-it notes.

The God Of Weather

Sometimes I'm convinced that God hates me. Why do I say this? Because of the weather.

When I lived in England, summer was just a blanket of grey cloud. Then, the year after I left, they had the hottest summer on record. More recently, we spent two-and-a-half years in Raleigh, North Carolina and endured three of the coldest winters in the history of forever, along with a summer so disgustingly hot it made you feel like you were living inside someone else's underpants. There were 90 days over 90ºF. That's a lot, especially when the humidity is up around the 300% mark. Then we came home to the coldest, wettest summer in 60 years, while Raleigh cruised through the mildest of winters, complete with temps in the 70's.

Think I might just have to move to Hawaii, where, incidentally, the above photo was taken.

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Image by Lachlan Payne Photography.