A couple of this blog's hobbies are tracking (i) the deliquescence of language* into grey goo and (ii) the demise of the open internet. The post below, from the Instagram Developer blog satisfies both interests! The main point, shrouded in hype about improvements, is that Instagram is terminating RSS feeds for its content. Shoot me an email if I'm wrong. Particularly juicy examples of English "crapification" (Yves Smith's term) are in boldface.
When we launched our first Instagram API in 2011, we were a very small team and knew we wouldn’t be able to build all the features our community might want. Today we are announcing several platform changes to improve people’s control over their content and set up a more sustainable environment built around authentic experiences on the platform.
Simplified platform policy
We’ve updated our Platform Policy to explicitly list the use cases we will support moving forward. These include apps and services that:--Help individuals share their own content with 3rd party apps, such as apps that let you print your photos and import an Instagram photo as a profile picture.
--Help brands and advertisers understand and manage their audience, develop their content strategy, and get digital rights to media. Established apps in this space may apply for our newly announced Instagram Partner Program.
--Help broadcasters and publishers discover content, get digital rights to media, and share media using web embeds.You can read the full terms here [link removed].
New review process and sandbox
We will begin reviewing new and existing apps before granting full API access starting December 3, 2015. Existing apps have until June 1, 2016 to submit and be approved.
We are also launching Sandbox Mode, which will let you privately build and test your apps using Instagram’s APIs as your app is being reviewed.
More control for the community
We’ve heard from the community that it can be unclear where their content is being shared and viewed [this means RSS readers, I think --tm], so today we are deprecating the /users/self/feed and /media/popular API endpoints for new apps. Existing apps will have until the end of the review period before access to the endpoints is terminated.
Our goal is to provide a focused set of terms and processes that give clarity to the use cases we will support going forward. While this may require changes from many of you, we believe these changes will help maintain control for the community and provide a clear roadmap for developers.
*See, e.g., list of banal phrases from reader m.po, with many additions since it last appeared; see also Jules Laplace's documentation of the horrors of Google and Googlespeak.