Business

It’s photo finish for Instagram

Twitter and Instagram are no longer photo sharing.

Yesterday, Twitter launched its own photo filters — the same day Instagram dropped the ability to post pictures onto the microblogging site.

Instead of Instagram photos showing up directly in Twitter feeds, users now have to click links, which direct them to Instagram’s website.

So Twitter launched its own Instagram competitor.

“Every day, millions of people come to Twitter to connect with the things they care about,” Twitter said in a blog post yesterday. “As one of the most compelling forms of self-expression, photos have long been an important part of these experiences.”

Twitter, led by CEO Dick Costolo, now allows mobile users to edit their photos and play around with filters. The new photo functions put Twitter in direct competition with Instagram, a rivalry that has grown since Facebook bought the photo-sharing service in August. Twitter worked with the New York startup Aviary to develop its photo-editing tools.

Howard Lindzon, CEO of StockTwits, called the Twitter-Instagram rivalry a “land war” for position .

“For users it’s now a pain,” he said as sharing between social-media platforms becomes more difficult.