Instagram cuts more ties with Twitter

Instagram has cut off use of Twitter cards, which makes Instagram render properly in tweets, in a move that further separates Twitter from the Facebook-owned photo-sharing service.

Twitter announced overnight that Instagram has made the move to cut off Twitter cards, which is why Instagram photos will be cropped in tweets.

"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."

According to a report from ZDNet's sister site CNET, the change wasn't made under an order from Instagram owner Facebook, which picked up the photo-sharing social network for US$1 billion in April this year, but was a move designed to get more users directly onto the Instagram site itself.

"This decision is definitely coming from me," Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom reportedly said. "This is not a case of Facebook putting some sort of policy on Instagram. And this isn't a consequence of us getting acquired."

Systrom also rejected the idea that this was revenge for Twitter cutting off Instagram's ability to access a user's Twitter follow list.

The move makes sense in one way: the company recently launched web-based profiles for its users, meaning that people no longer needed to be using the Instagram mobile app in order to view a person's collection of Instagram photos.

Twitter is also clamping down on third-party clients through changes to its API, and is reportedly looking to introduce Instagram-style photo filters.