Case study n. 1 Instagram“With more than 150 million users on the platform, 16 billion photos shared and 1 billion likes every day, the photo sharing and editing platform is one of the most engaging channels on social media” (S. Harris, 2013 ). These incredible statistics affirmed that Instagram belongs to the social networking giants. In 2013, the CEOs of Facebook acquired this social network. People can use Instagram for free without any monthly subscription costs. Since Instagram is provided to users for free, the company's management had to find another way to generate profit. By changing the terms of use, Instagram lost a large part of its users. With this change a great ethical question arises. If a new user wants to create an Instagram account it is necessary to accept the conditions of use, which are often ignored by everyone. A crucial issue for users is that by accepting these terms, Instagram has the right to provide your photos to third parties for profit without any compensation to the user (photo/video owner). These changes to the terms were made without notifying users. In a democratic state a human being has the right to privacy and property. Instagram didn't break any laws because they mentioned it in their terms of use, but they were unethical towards users. The main problem is that people who use Instagram on a daily basis do not approve of third parties using their photos for commercial purposes. As stated by Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, “Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we would like to experiment with innovative advertising that we deem appropriate on Instagram” (2013). If Instagram wants to share user information with third parties, there should be some clearly present...... middle of paper ...... safe for underage users | Digital trends. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://www.digitaltrends.com/socia l-media/keep-our-underage-children-safe-instagram-concerned-parents/ReferencesBabb, Alexis, Amanda (2013, February). Santa Clara University - Jesuit Global Dialogue on Business Ethics. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/ethicsblog/globaldialog.cfm?b=180&c=15267Harris, S. (2013, October 15). 8 Surprising New Instagram Stats to Get the Most Out of the Social Network - The Buffer Blog. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://blog.bufferapp.com/instagram-stats-instagram-tipsKotenko, J. (2013, May 16). Privacy advocates say Instagram is unsafe for underage users | Digital trends. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://www.digitaltrends.com/socia l-media/keep-our-underage-children-safe-instagram-concerned-parents/