That’s what we’re hearing from the FTC’s expert witness, Professor Cliff Lampe, an expert on human-computer interaction. He’s affirming the FTC’s view that the way people use and see apps like Instagram and Facebook is different from how they use and view other apps like TikTok or Pinterest.
Stoop says the goal of the project had been to make uploading multiple photos to Facebook faster and more fun, and that it achieved that. After Facebook had finished a major technical overhaul of its iOS app, it just made more sense to integrate the features with the main app where users already existed, he says.
That’s how Meta is trying to frame the product on cross-examination. Stoop says the two had different distribution models and audiences, since Facebook didn’t have a public following feature at the time and was more focused on sharing photos with friends, while Instagram lets users follow people they didn’t know. He adds that Facebook continued the project after the Instagram acquisition, and his team grew from about 10-15 people to about 40-50 over two years.
An internal May 2012 document discussing how to discuss the launch of Facebook Camera lists key external “messages to avoid.” The first was, “Facebook Camera launches filters, like Instagram,” and the second was “Facebook squashes competition.” Stoop says they wanted to make sure the press wouldn’t pigeonhole the product and miss the bigger picture.
The FTC is attempting to demonstrate that Meta viewed its Facebook Camera app as a competitor to Instagram, and that until the deal to acquire Instagram, it was actively working to address its issues and release it. In notes to his team in January 2012 from what Stoop says is known within Meta as a “Zuck Review,” Stoop summarized Zuckerberg’s feedback. “Instagram is growing quickly,” he wrote, so getting Facebook Camera “out the door fast is a huge priority.”
Dirk Stoop is the first witness of the day. He’s testifying about his role in leading development for the Facebook Camera app, which was ultimately shut down after the company’s acquisition of Instagram.
While testifying in the FTC v. Meta trial, Kevin Systrom described a contentious relationship with Mark Zuckerberg.
After a full day of testimony in the FTC v. Meta trial, which was largely positive for the government, the Instagram co-founder has left the witness stand. Tomorrow, we’ll hear from Dirk Stoop, a former Facebook product manager who worked on the company’s early standalone camera app, as well as one of the FTC’s expert witnesses.
While Meta ultimately created a centralized integrity team to support Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Systrom says that his app required its own team to address issues that wouldn’t otherwise receive support from Meta. He compares this to how Meta removed his access to its central growth team, prompting Instagram to establish its own.
Wasn’t joining Meta exactly what the Instagram app needed as an accelerator? Systrom responds to that question by saying that’s not exactly what happened. Sure, some things Meta did helped Instagram grow more quickly, but there were also “parts that were more challenging that didn’t get fulfilled. It was a mixed bag.” Systrom later concedes that working with Meta’s growth team was great “if you could work with them,” which calls back to his earlier testimony that Zuckerberg at one point pulled that staff off Instagram.