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Instagram CEO feels Twitter card removal is 'the correct thing for our business' but calls changes 'really confusing' to users

Instagram CEO feels Twitter card removal is 'the correct thing for our business' but calls changes 'really confusing' to users

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le web systrom instagram
le web systrom instagram

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom just took the stage at the LeWeb conference and is speaking directly to this morning's controversial change that removed Twitter card support. Right off the bat, Systrom made it clear that "we will always be integrated with Twitter in a way that you can tweet out from Instagram to Twitter," but he also acknowledged that the change is "really confusing" and offered his apologies to any confused users. Systrom also wanted to make it clear that the change wasn't due to Facebook policy; he said that "this isn't actually a consequence of us getting acquired."

Additionally, Systrom claimed that "we have a really good relationship with Twitter," despite recent evidence to the contrary — he specifically denied the possibility that Instagram's removal of Twitter cards was a tit for tat response to Twitter blocking Instagram from using its friend-finding API.

Systrom simply believes that the change is "the correct thing for our business to do at this time" — Instagram's CEO wants people to use the new web client on Instagram.com because he thinks it is a better user experience, and noted that "not many people know what Twitter cards are." Thanks to the major revisions Instagram has made to its web properties over the last few months, the company now wants to direct users to "where their content lives originally." He's definitely painting this change as something that will improve the experience for users and doesn't seem to think that the change will be a negative for Instagram's large user base.