The Measures We Take for More Likes and Followers on Instagram

The "InstLike" Scam

The Instagram Scam That Tricked Over 100,000 Users Into Giving Away Their Passwords

...well, that's Instagram worthy.

The Android app, InstLike, promised free Likes and followers to Instagram users was another effective scam that over 100,000 Instagram users fell for and became No. 22 under most downloaded "utility" apps and No. 571 app overall.

After downloading the free application, users were asked to share their usernames and passwords, turning them into willing participants of a giant scam. The app developers promised at the login screen that, "We don't steal your account," leaving the user feeling safe as if they could trust the application. Once starting the application, InstLike began following random users and liked random photos with your account. The more people who downloaded the application, the more likes and followers the pool of scammed users would get. If you weren't satisfied with the results of the free version of the app, you could buy virtual coins to accrue more likes and followers. The application got more than just your password, but as well as your credit card information. 

The app was overlooked by Apple and Google for months. The first red flag was put up by the security firm Symantec who spotted the scam in late October. "People didn't realize that they were being duped into giving their login credentials to this app," Satnam Narang, the security researched at Symantec who found out InstLike.

Symantec warned Apple and Google after their discovery and was removed from Google Play and the App Store on October 25th and November 7th. Though, it was too late, tens and thousands of users had already downloaded the application.

This scam is just one representation of the extensive measures we are willing to take to receive more likes and followers on Instagram. Instagram is the power of popularity among social media network. It has become a social standard to receive more than 60 likes on a photo. If you do not receive that many, then lengths will be taken from as far as posting photos of illegal drugs to posting nude photos. "It's just very interesting to see what length people will go in order to get likes on their photos," Narang added.

Even though the application has been removed from Google and Apple stores, the website, InstLike.com, is still in operation.

As George Carlin once said, "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

                                                                            Chloe Smith

BlackBerry: No chances of survival.

For BlackBerry, this might be the end.

Keeping up with the bigger brands 

seems almost impossible.

BlackBerry Talking to Google and Samsung About Potential Sale 

When you think of a smartphone, your mind thinks about the Apple iPhone, the Windows phone, and an Android phone. Your mind never thinks about BlackBerry. Today the term "BlackBerry" is only referenced in the textbook as the first company to make email go mobile and as the introduction to smart cellular devices. From there on out, every business professional had a BlackBerry. That is, until the Apple iPhone and Android came around. 

Now the company has been remodeling their mission statement and their products in hope of competing with the top brands. As of late,

BlackBerry is discussing a possible "buy-out," in hopes of selling to Samsung, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel and LG. The response from those companies was not promising. A spokesperson from LG actually denied knowing about the offer. The company recently fired 4,500, about 35% of its workforce, employees and had lost over $1 billion in its second quarter.

CEO of the company, Thorsten Heins, stated, "The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly." Suggesting the BlackBerry will never be able to keep up. What does this mean to the future of the company?

Right now, the only thing going to BlackBerry is its "revolutionizing" appeal, secure messaging system, and its patent collection. The company used to be worth about $100 billion in 2007, now it is nowhere near that amount.

Will BlackBerry be another Palm? Palm came out almost at the same time as the Apple iPhone did. The company was worth over $9 billion when it started up in 2001, then fell behind innovation. Leaving the company worth less than $1.2 billion of which HP ended up buying the company for in 2012.

Iain Gilliot, president of market-strategy consultancy IGR, believes that, when comparing BlackBerry to Palm, "BlackBerry as we know it today is done. But BlackBerry as we used to know it — something's going to live in that form. The thing with BlackBerry is they have two sides to this business. They have 18 million customers using their software — Palm never had that."

What are your thoughts? Is BlackBerry done for good? Or do you think with more innovation of their product, increased research on their target markets needs and wants, or possible technological improvements they could be successful?

                                                                                           Chloe Smith


For more information:
"BlackBerry Talking to Google and Samsung About Potential Sale: Report" http://on.mash.to/1aWE8K5
"BlackBerry Lays Off 4,500 Employees, Loses Nearly $1B In Q2"  http://bit.ly/19yqPCl 
"7 Reasons Why BlackBerry Sucks and You Shouldn't Buy One" http://bit.ly/JVMQwH
"Is BlackBerry done?" http://on.mash.to/18lPu8S