Over the past 24 hours there has been a lot of talk about how Instagram pulled support for Twitter Cards, resulting in cropped or poorly displayed images if you opt to click “View photo” instead of the actual Instagram link.

Users can still share Instagram photos to Twitter, but the image on the two platforms will look different. The idea is to increase traffic to Instagram and utilize the platform and its Web presence more directly, especially now that it has released its Web profiles.

 “A handful of months ago, we supported Twitter cards because we had a minimal Web presence. We’ve since launched several improvements to our website that allow users to directly engage with Instagram content through likes, comments, hashtags, and now we believe the best experience is for us to link back to where the content lives,” said Kevin Systrom, Instagram CEO and co-founder, in a statement.

Image via SlashGear

I know this is big news for the companies – I’m sure Twitter wants to be able to offer a completely integrated and seamless experience to users just as much as Instagram wants to drive traffic to its platform -- but as users, is it such a big deal?

First of all, I noticed differences in some Twitter-posted Instagram photos yesterday, but I’m searching now and can’t even tell the difference. Depending on the image, you can still get the general gist of the photo, even with the crop. The problem Instagram might face is the fact that users just may not care that much to click on links. Personally, this probably won’t affect my laptop/PC experience, as I click on links pretty often, but mobile-wise, I’m much less likely to click on a link just because it slows my flow. Unless I really, really want to see that image, I’ll likely just move on and go back to catching up on my feed.

Apparently, the plan is for Instagram users to be able to share photos to Twitter via links only. There is no need to worry about a future complete disintegration between the two platforms, though.

Systrom said, “We think it’s a better user experience, currently. I think this is an evolution of who we are and where we want links to our content to go. We will always be integrated with Twitter with regards to tweeting a link to your Instagram photo.”