Updated 10:21 a.m.
If you try to view photos posted to Twitter from Instagram today, you may notice them appearing cropped or not rendering properly. That’s because Instagram reportedly disabled integration with Twitter’s “cards” feature for displaying added information and media within tweets, as Twitter revealed in a status update on Wednesday. As Twitter’s status update explained:
Users are experiencing issues with viewing Instagram photos on Twitter. Issues include cropped images. This is due to Instagram disabling its Twitter cards integration, and as a result, photos are being displayed using a pre-cards experience. So, when users click on Tweets with an Instagram link, photos appear cropped.
The move comes after the New York Times reported in early November that Twitter would introduce a photo-editing filter feature directly on its website that would compete with Instagram’s similar features. Instagram was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in cash and stock in April, reportedly after spurring talks to merge with Twitter.
Late update: By a sheer quirk of timing, moments after Twitter reported the disabling, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom took to the stage at the LeWeb conference going on this week in Paris, France for a live interview.
Asked about the issue by tech columnist M.G. Siegler, Systrom confirmed that Instagram disabled the integration with Twitter cards and that the decision was based on “where do you want to go to consume that image? We want it to be on Instagram.com because we think that’s a better experience.”
Systrom also flatly denied the move was done in retaliation for Twitter’s move in July to disable Instagram’s “Find Friends” feature, the ability for Instagram users to search and add contacts through Twitter.
