• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, December 10, 2012

Instagram -- the Facebook-owned photo filtering and sharing service -- officially disabled photo integration with Twitter, this weekend. “While users can still post links to their Instagram photos on Twitter, they’ll no longer be able to view Instagram photos from within the Twitter stream across both the Twitter Web site and mobile apps,” AllThingsD reports.

“Now when [users] share an Instagram photo on Twitter, only a link to the photo on Instagram’s site will appear on your timeline,” VentureBeat writes. “Sound the social alarm!” PCMag half-jokes.

“In an appearance last week, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said he wanted folks viewing photos on his service,” USAToday reminds us.

“But for many casual users of the two services, this total removal will introduce them to the social battle going on between Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for total control of their photo experience,” GigaOm writes.

“Instagram recently rolled out Web profiles, expanding its presence on desktops and drawing users further onto the Instagram platform and away from sites like Twitter,” GigaOm adds.

Twitter, meanwhile, is now working on a photo filtering service of its own. “Every social media company wants you to stay inside their walls -- Twitter is no exception,” writes WebProNews. “And a good set of photo filters could be a huge boost for Twitter.”