Instagram image
Instagram has just topped the 400m users per month tally, streaking clear of Twitter, which has 316m, and further strengthening Facebook’s control of the social media landscape.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company bought Instagram for US$1bn four years ago, turning it from a clever product into a cultural behemoth, with its user base of 30m back in 2011 an example of its rocketing scale.
The figures become even more impressive when you see the demographic breakdown, with more than three-quarters of all users situated outside the US.
More than half of the most recent 100m subscribers are European or Asian, with the likes of Brazil, Japan and Indonesia standing out as countries with significant surges in subscribers.
What has helped the brand, of course, has been the uptake of accounts by celebrities throughout the world.
In the last 100m subscribers, the likes of David Beckham (UK), Caitlyn Jenner (US), Raffi and Nagita (Indonesia), Toni Kroos (Germany) and T.O.P (South Korea) have seen particular support from their home countries.
“When Instagram launched nearly five years ago, 400 million seemed like a distant dream,” said the company in a blog post.
“Now, we continue to strive to improve Instagram – helping you experience the world through images and connect with others through shared passions.”
The company has been continually evolving, changing how it presents images and even how people take them.
Desktop use of the social media service, too, has evolved, with higher resolution image storage now replicating the huge improvement in camera technology on smartphones.
Perhaps the company’s biggest achievement, though, is rendering an unfiltered image entirely devoid of popularity.
Main image via Shutterstock
