Instagram is a photo-sharing social network application which was first launched in October
2010 by the co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The service is based on taking a photo, applying a filter and sharing it with other users both of the network itself and other networks. Since its release, Instagram is having progressively more users: at present they are more than 100 millions.
The success of Instagram relies mostly on its simple performance. Users only have to take a photo or choose it from the library, apply one of the different filters or effects and upload the picture. The followers will see it in their home screen or timeline. In order to make the photo more accessible, the owner usually uses hashtags so that other users can search it. These features -followers and hashtags- are very similar to Twitter. Apart from that, the pictures can be shared on Facebook, Twitter -although from now on when someone clicks on the link of the image, he will be directed to Instagram’s site- , Tumbrl, Flickr or Foursquare.
Instagram, since its start, had a favorable reception. Systrom (2010), some months after the release, asserted: “We have to say that we never expected the overwhelming response that we have seen”. At the beginning, the application was only available for iPhone. While it was gaining more and more users, in April 2012 it was purchased by Facebook for $1 million, although it continues being managed by Systrom and Krieger. In the same month it was opened to Android and, for that time, there were more than 40 million users. By September 2012, Instagram had 100 million registered users. Only a month ago Instagram web profiles were announced in the blog: users have now the opportunity to manage their account from the web. More users are wanted to join the community.
Example of a photo in Instagram with the Valencia filter.
For me Instagram is one of the best networks that have been created until now. The fact of showing life through pictures and interacting with famous people is so interesting that we get hooked on it.
To finish, it is worth mentioning that in only two years this application is becoming more and more big. Indeed, it has already passed Twitter in daily active users on mobile. I am looking forward to seeing its evolution and unstoppable growth.
References:
- Instagram, 2012. Announcing Instagram Profiles on the Web! Instagram, Inc. Available at: http://blog.instagram.com/post/35068144047/announcing-instagram-profiles-on-the-web[Accessed December 1, 2012].
- Fiegerman, S., 2012. Instagram Now Has More Daily Active Users on Mobile Than Twitter. Mashable. Available at: http://mashable.com/2012/09/27/instagram-passes-twitter-users/[Accessed December 1, 2012].
- Segall, L., 2012. Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion. CNNMoney. Available at: http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/09/technology/facebook_acquires_instagram/ [Accessed December 1, 2012].
- Systrom, K., 2010. Instagram: What is the genesis of Instagram? Quora. Available at: http://www.quora.com/Instagram/What-is-the-genesis-of-Instagram [Accessed December 1, 2012].
- Bilton, N., 2012. Twitter Loses Ability to Properly Display Instagram Photos. The New York Times Company. Available at: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/twitter-loses-ability-to-properly-display-instagram-photos/ [Accessed December 5, 2012].
Filed under: Social networks, Web Communication Tagged: free topic post, Instagram, photography, sharing photos 
