Instagram is a social media platform with sharing, editing, photo, and video capabilities. Instagram was founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and launched on October 6, 2010. Over the last few years, Instagram has reached several milestones. In April 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram for 1 billion dollars. On June 20, 2013, Instagram released their video sharing capabilities that allowed users to share 15 second videos.
The platform has over 150 million active users, 16 billion shared photos, 1.2 billion daily likes, and over 55 million photos shared daily.
The 20+ different filters for photo and video editing capabilities provide users the ability to upload and edit posts instantly.
Interactions on Instagram take place through likes, comments, or hashtags. Users can discover other users through the explore tab or through the Popular page where posts with a high level of interaction during a set time period make it on to the page. The geotagging or location tagging is powered through Foursqaure on Instagram and is another element of discovery for users on the platform.
Instagram released sponsored content or their advertising component in late 2013. These posts have a special icon indicating if they are sponsored and has been used by brands such as Levi’s and Michael Kors.
Why does TrackMaven think Instagram is important?
Instagram is a fast-paced visual platform. It is a social discovery platform where users can easily discover each other through hashtags, the in-app search, the popular page, or by geotags. Instagram users interact on the platform 24/7 mostly on their mobile devices and can function on the desktop browser for viewing as well.
In a Sentence
Allen uploaded a corgi photo onto Instagram and it went to the Popular page because he received hundreds of interactions in an hour.