What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social media site that allows people to create a free profile online. This site will enable people to share videos and photos, view, comment and like other people’s posts. Some people have a private account to keep in contact with their friends close to home and worldwide. Others keep their accounts public, meaning anyone can see and engage with them. Anyone aged 13 or above was able to use instagram. This age rule was put in place to protect children who may get caught up in the app or become misused/tricked. Instagram is not just a personal app; businesses also use it. Companies use this site to share awareness of their business and encourage customers to have a more personal engagement with them one-on-one.
When was Instagram created, and why?
Kevin Systrom Credit: Wikimedia Commons
On the 6th of October 2010 Instagram was Launched. Software engineers created the software in as little as eight weeks. A site called Burbn launched before Instagram. It was called Burbn because the creator (Kevin Systrom) loved bourbons and whiskey. Burbn was a site that allowed people to post and share their photos, check into venues and post their plans. It was a site that allowed people to keep each other up to date on what they were doing during the day. However, they didn’t feel Burbn was the correct fit. Therefore, they developed the software and created Instagram.
They called the software Instagram a combination of instant and telegram. The main intent of Instagram was to have a platform where you could post original pictures taken from a phone. Rather than worrying about a propper camera and getting the perfect shot, Instagram was all about just using the phone camera and catching those memories you don’t want to forget. It was important to the creators that it was a minimalist site, and anyone could use it.
Critical moments in the history of Instagram
6th October 2010 – Kevin Systrom launched Instagram. It was able to reach 25,000 users on the first day.
13th October 2010 – Instagram had 100,000 users after a week.
December 2010 – In as little as two months, they had a million users on Instagram. This was a massive achievement in such a short time.
September 2011 – Systrom decided that filters should be a part of Instagram. They still wanted to keep the app simple and focus on raw phone images; however, they started with the idea of a few filters that bring out the colours in the picture. Now that ideal has grown, we have many filters for our faces and scenery.
March 2012 – The number of users on Instagram kept growing. They had grown to roughly 27 million users.
April 2012 – Facebook decided to buy Instagram for $1 billion.
May 2013 – Hashtags started to become viral, meaning many users were using them. Instagram decided to take advantage of this and created a lot of marketing using hashtags on the site.
December 2013 – Instagram introduced the option to directly messaging other people through the site. This feature enabled people to contact anyone on the site, whether they were following each other or not. Having this feature allows people to make closer relationships with each other.
December 2014 – Instagram reached 300 million users.
October 2015 – Instagram allowed Boomerangs to be posted on the site. Bommeranges are videos that capture a few seconds and loop it. This was the first hint to videos being allowed on the site.
Instagrams Boomerang symbol Credit: Wikimedia Commons
August 2016 – Instagram introduced Insta stories to the app. This is where you could post, and anyone (followers and not) could see what you were up to. These stories did not stay on your profile and would disappear after 24 hours.
November 2016 – The ability to have lives were launched on the site. This meant you could essentially call anyone who was looking at your site. You would be videoing and talking, and whoever is watching can comment. Therefore, you can have a conversation with people.
February 2017 – The option to post multiple pictures in one post was enabled. This meant people could post up to 10 photos at once rather than just one. Having this feature meant people could document a whole day/ activity and post all the images together rather than having to do each individual.
August 2020 – Instagram launched the video features (reels). Reels are short videos with images and sound that you can put onto the app in its news feed section for all the videos.
2022 – Today, it is estimated that Instagram has over 1 billion users.
Conclusion
Instagram is ever evolving, however it remains true to its roots and its purpose. It will forever be the site that wants to make the most of original photos taken from a phone.
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If you would like to know some more about other Social Media sites, please check out some of the following blogs:
