With the news that Facebook has bought Instagram for a whopping $1 billion, everyone is talking about Instagram…even more than they were previously.
The photo app allows users to take photos with selected digital filters, which each give photos an instant makeover. Vintage vibes can be seen on the images, with brightening, shadowing, and re-coloring capabilities. In April 2012, the use of Instagram was extended onto Android devices (where previously it was only supported by iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch).
There are 30 million users worldwide, and the company grew users quickly from its launch in 2010. In January 2012, it was reported that 400 million photos had been uploaded via Instagram, and business just kept getting better.
So far, Facebook hasn’t offered a mobile application through their service. Indeed, the acquisition of Instagram shows a readiness to enter the new mobile era and offer customers exactly what they’re looking for on one platform.
Facebook has also announced that it will allow Instagram to grow independently, separate from Facebook. And as Mark Zuckerberg put it himself, Facebook wants to “work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”
The acquisition is incredibly interesting and poignant for the social media world, as it brings together social media giant Facebook with a company who has 13 employees, yet also offers a social media-esque platform by bringing users together to share photos in streams.
Zuckerberg also highlighted the purchase wouldn’t become the norm for Facebook, and that there may not be any other time where they buy a product that has so many users already.
The purchase of Instagram by Facebook is an attempt to merge an already popular photo app with the big social media player to bring people even closer together and offer the service, combined with the social media aspect, on one platform for users. The news highlights just how important imagery still is, even in this information age.
The coming months will show just how the integrations between the two applications will work; but I suspect we will see it work without fault to become an important social media move in our time and that others will follow in similar mergers…undoubtedly just to follow suit and stay relevant in today’s fast-moving social make-up.
About the author: Amy writes about technology for Direct Sight, a leading provider of varifocals online.
