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Want to skip Instagram and it's Facebook feeding content? Here's how:

  1. Sign up for a free App.net account 1.
  2. Download Favd from the App Store
  3. Start posting filtered photos to Twitter, Facebook and App.net with no worry about Zuckerburg selling your photos with an advert.

It's even easier if you're already an App.net user and have the App.net Passport app installed on your iOS device.

Your photos are stored on App.net which you have full control over. As Scott mentioned on App.net:

I think @favd demonstrates the potential of ADN. Download the app, tap two buttons and are authenticated (w/Passport) and have a complete social network set up. No hunting for users to follow. I haven't had a "That's it?!" experience like that in a while.

The money making side of Favd comes in the form of in-app purchase of filters. Which is what so many people wished Instagram would have done rather than going after users and advertisers. Favd sells individual filters for $0.99 or a bundle of 5 filters for $3.99. 2

The people who scoff at App.net and wonder "why do we need another Twitter?" are missing the point. Actually, they're missing the point of the internet. There's plenty of room for another social network. You don't have to use it but that doesn't make it invalid. For every person that makes fun of Google+, there's another 5 people getting a lot of community and fun out of it.

Similarly for App.net. It might not be your preferred social network, but there's a large group of people who consider it their primary place of discussion online.

And while Favd might look like "yet another Instagram clone", it's taking the parts of Instagram that people enjoy - taking and sharing photos with friends online - and leaving behind the corporate shadiness that comes with being associated with Facebook.

Screenshots of Favd

[gallery ids="21655,21656,21657,21658,21659,21660,21661,21662,21663,21664,21665,21666,21667,21668"]

  1. You and I get an extra 100MB of storage space on App.net if you sign up using my link and follow 5 people. More space for our Favd photos. ↩
  2. There's currently a bug in the app where for some users, myself included, it doesn't show you the price without you having to enter your iTunes Store password. Once I entered my password it still did the usual in-app purchase prompt of confirming a purchase where I could cancel. I'm sure ↩

Favd