We are taught that Christmas is a time for sharing and this habit has been institutionalised with the gifts of the social media.

If you will forgive the spirit of “Bah humbug’”, we spotted a revealing story about what social-media sharing can mean for those image makers who choose to use such free services.

The picture-sharing monster Facebook purchased Instagram, a popular and growing image-sharing site, for $375 million earlier this year and has just announced a significant change to its terms for its more than 7 million daily users.

© Len Hawkins @ Procartoonists.org

There’s a lively online reaction, largely against the changed terms of service, but the proof of this change will be in the future of online picture sharing and Facebook’s attempts to make money from what used to be other people’s pictures.

Scrooge and others say be careful what you share and who you share it with. If you have a view, please do, er, feel free to share it in the comments below.

Updated: 19th December 2012 Instagram/Facebook have responded to the global concern about their change of terms and you can read that response here.