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Forum Discussion

quantum88's avatar
quantum88
Explorer | Level 3
3 hours ago

My videos are automatically uploaded to Instagram. How can I stop it?

Something has changed here for the worse. Why is Dropbox making decisions for me without my permission??
I have uploaded a video which then I was going to post to Instagram FROM my Instagram account, in the process of which I need to add collaborators, tag people, add description etc.

But the moment my video was uploaded, I saw it said UPLOADED TO INSTAGRAM.

What?????  

I did NOT select or authorise an auto upload. I don't allow anything auto as I need to control the process with additional information and action. 

I did NOT link my Instagram account with Dropbox. So where and how exactly it has posted my video?

When I searched online, the instructions I found are confusing as I can't find anything they are talking about.  

So here are my questions:

1. I did NOT select or authorise an auto upload. I don't allow anything auto as I need to control the process with additional information and action. Why is Dropbox posting my uploaded videos to Instagram without my permission? How does it decide that the video reel is for Instagram? It might be for a completely different purpose NOT to be published in Insta!!!

2. How can I stop it? Online posts say I need to change the BACKUP setting under Preferences - but I do NOT have this option there. This is terribly confusing and frustrating.  I want to be able to upload a video without an AI deciding what it is and what to do with it !!! That's something I DECIDE and did NOT give the Dropbox AI my permission to do anything on my behalf!!

3. Does it actually post those videos to the account timeline? Some online post say that this is a BACKUP.  So is it a backup or it is actually posted to Instagram?? I didn't wait to check and quickly deleted the video. I can't risk it being posted without me doing what I need to do with it first. Where exactly is this BACKUP setting? I can't see it anywhere in my dashboard.

Could someone please explain this mess to me and tell me how the heck can I STOP all those auto decisions by AI on my account.

In the meantime I have to use my email to upload this reel from my phone.

thanks

 

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey quantum88, thanks for posting to our Community.

    Can you describe the steps you followed to upload the video to your Dropbox account in the first place?

    Are you able to reproduce the issue again with the same steps?

    Let me know what you find and we'll go from there.

  • quantum88's avatar
    quantum88
    Explorer | Level 3

    Hi Hannah

    thanks for your reply.

    I uploaded the video as usual to the Instagram folder.  As soon as it was done,  I saw a note in the same window underneath the file:  "Posted to Instagram". 

    Not "Post to Instagram" or "Would you like to post it to Instagram?" or any future tense or question.

    POSTED.  That's a past tense.

    If you say that there is not such an option - how can you explain all those online posts (not just one but many, including Google AI) about having to change the setting  in Dropbox to stop automatic posting to Instagram?

    I would need to upload another video, I don't have the time to do it rights now.

     

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      To correct my initial response, there is a feature that allows you to post photos/videos to Instagram, however, some criteria need to be met and you'd have to follow some specific steps to do it (so it's not done automatically by itself).

      Do you remember following these steps here?

  • quantum88's avatar
    quantum88
    Explorer | Level 3

    no, I didn't.  I don't have a Facebook page, closed it long ago and have no intention to create one.  As I said - I just uploaded the video and immediately saw this notice:
    POSTED to INSTAGRAM .

    How can you explain it?

    and also this from Google search

    Where is the BACKUPS setting in Preferences?  It's not in my settings.