UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: It seems those numbers from AppData indicating that Instagram is leaking users aren’t quite all they’re cracked up to be. To that end, a spokeswoman for Instagram denies the app is losing users, saying in a statement: “We continue to see strong and steady growth in both registered and active users of Instagram.”

PCMag points out that the New York Post’s use of stats from AppData that showed a 25% loss in users were based on the firm’s tracking of the usage of Facebook applications, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that all Instagram users have their accounts linked up to Facebook in the first place.

——Original story below——

After Instagram initially announced its new terms of service and privacy policy, it seemed like you couldn’t turn around on the Interwebs without bumping into users threatening to quit the photo-sharing service. National Geographic suspended its account temporarily and celebs like Kim Kardashian threatened to do the same. It’s not all empty threats, even after the service backpedaled — reportedly as many as a quarter of users have since quit the app.  however, as reportedly as many as a quarter of users have quit the app.

According to new figures from AppData (via the New York Post), plenty of those users followed through with their protestations and dumped Instagram. It can’t be said positively that the new terms of service and privacy police were to blame, but well, it’s kinda obvious.

“[We are] pretty sure the decline in Instagram users was due to the terms of service announcement” on Dec. 17, AppData told The Post.

Instagram used to boast 16.4 million active daily users in the week before its new policy changes, and is now at only 12.4 million. Instagram quickly reverted to its old policy after outrage became widespread, but once a ball starts rolling, well, it keeps rolling.

The company itself won’t say how many, if any of its 100 million subscribers deleted their accounts, but a telling sign is the fact that Instagram didn’t brag about how many photos were posted on Christmas Day. That’s funny, because the company did tout its big business on Thanksgiving, when users shared 10 million photos. Someone had to photograph all that turkey, right?

Rage against rules [New York Post]

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