Instagram is an American video and photo sharing social media service established by Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom. Since the debut of Instagram in the month of October the number of people using the application continues to increase. The growth of Instagram is astounding and in less than a decade they’ve had more than one billion users. Instagram is amazing , and we all know it. People can spend endless hours scrolling through their feeds, or on the Explore page, watching videos engaging in fun and getting invigorated.

We all are aware that Rome was not built in a day, but what exactly did Instagram reach where it is now? What happened to it before? If you’re an avid Instagram user, like I am, I’m certain you have had the same thoughts too. In this post we’ll examine the growing popularity of Instagram.

THE RISE OF INSTAGRAM

CONCEPTUALIZATION

Instagram was launched under a different name called Burbn, in 2010. Burbn was founded through Kevin Systrom to connect people across the globe by making public each person’s check-in every time they travel to a new place. After a couple of weeks of negotiating with venture companies that he had negotiated with, he was awarded $500,000 money which is when he began searching for a team. in the process of searching for a team he came across Mike Krieger.

After Systrom was introduced to Mike and they began cooperating, the two realized the app’s design was far too similar to the established app called Foursquare. the two realized that Burbn changed its design completely. Both discovered that their users were more social by sharing photos since the majority of users were sharing and posting photos frequently. After realising this the company redesigned Burbn to become the social media platform that is now called Instagram.

LAUNCH

The application Instagram was launched officially on October 6th in the year 2010. It is interesting to note that, following its launch in a mere span of three months, Instagram gained 1 million users. Six weeks after the milestone, it grew to the number of users to 2 million. What Instagram did in that short period was impressive when compared to other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or even Tumblr. It took ten months to reach 1 million users, while it took 24 and 27 months to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr to achieve 1 million users, respectively.

When Instagram began, the initial Instagram version was quite basic. It was possible to post photos and comments, as well as follow, and like other users. Then, a year later, in September 2011, Instagram introduced a new icon for its app. It came with an array of camera settings and settings available within the app. It also included new camera effects as well as the ability to rotate with one touch. At the same time, smartphone photography was becoming more popular, with brands such as the iPhone continually improving their cameras. which helped Instagram gain more recognition.

One of the most significant modifications Instagram implemented that later showed its existence indeed here to remain was when Instagram became accessible for Android customers in the month of April of 2012. The change was the next milestone for Instagram. At the time the month ended, Instagram had more than 50 million users using the platform.

TURNING POINT

The similar the year (2012) Facebook acquired Instagram and the news spread rapidly for $1 billion. Companies frequently buy other businesses and it’s not a popular subject. This was not the case with Instagram due to the fact that at the time , people were skeptical that it was possible to buy an organization with only thirteen employees at such a large amount. As such, many believed that Facebook bought the application because they were worried about competition as they had the same users. It was one of the numerous speculations floating around in the midst of the day and until today, Facebook has neither refuted or verified any of the assertions.

One year later, following the acquisition of Instagram by Facebook Facebook bought Instagram and the company was acquired in June of 2013, Instagram stopped being an solely a video-based platform. sharing capabilities were launched which enabled users to upload and share videos. In December of in the year that followed, Instagram added “Instagram Direct” which is known as DMs (Direct messages) for millennials. Three years after, in November of 2016, Instagram introduced Instagram Live the feature that allows users to broadcast their activities in real-time, including events they went to and danced to, music or other activities.

As time passed, Instagram continued to grow and introduce increasing new features, including sponsored posts marketing analytics, business analytics features Shop, Instagram story, Instagram reels. Each feature has Instagram provided businesses with opportunities to expand their reach and improve their marketing. As opposed to the beginning, Instagram has grown past being a tool for people, and today businesses too have found their place in Instagram.