Lots of people panicked yesterday when a small glitch caused some Instagram accounts to temporarily go down. Rumours that Instagram was freeing up server space by deleting unused accounts started to circulate. Not knowing what else to do, many (more than 500,000) flocked to Twitter to let the world know how angry they were.

The hashtag #dontdeletemyaccount started to circulate, and thousands of tweets with this message went out. But, you can relax. Instagram's developers have commented on the situation, and, no, Instagram isn't deleting accounts. Really. Your account is completely safe. Why would Instagram even consider deleting an account?

Why A Company Might Delete Accounts

The Instagram rumours were based on two things. The first being the rumour that Facebook (owners of Instagram) was deleting accounts in order to free up server space. Unused accounts still take space, so this seemed to make sense to those that never use Instagram (but still want an account). The second reason was that some feared Facebook was cracking down on violations of Instagram's terms.

But, alias, neither one of these things is true. Still, that didn't stop some random person from creating a DontdeletemyIG Instagram account -- an account that now has more than 68,000 followers. Instagram later posted a note that the app had experienced a temporary glitch, and that no photos or accounts were lost. This incident makes me wonder, though.

Things to Think About

It's really easy to jump on any bandwagon. To join a crowd of people that seem to know what they are doing and where they are going. To say to yourself "well, everyone else is doing it" or "it's true! it's based on a real rumour!" Here's a lesson to be learned: find out the facts for yourself before spreading these rumours.

The other thing that many should now consider is: what if an Instagram account is deleted? Do you have all of your photos backed up? Are all of your pictures safe? No? Well, you might want to do that. Why? In case Instagram is ever shut down, or accounts are ever erased by error or due to another reason. All of those amazing photos you have taken will be lost, and that's really something to think about!

Life Goes On

It seems funny that those who have never used Instagram once would protest the deletion of an account, but I digress. For now, Instagram life goes on as it always has. Sure, Facebook now owns Instagram and this may seem like the death of the photo app, but the app continues on its merry way as usual. Love Instagram? Don't worry, your photos are still in place.

Did you jump on this rumour bandwagon? Have you backed up your Instagram photos via hard drive or cloud? If you haven't backed up your photos, now's the time to do so. You're safe from deletion right now, but who knows what the future of Instagram holds. It's far better to be safe than sorry, right?