Instagram

"Insta" redirects here.
For other uses, see Instagram (disambiguation) and Insta

(disambiguation).
Instagram
Logo used since May 2022
 Kevin Systrom
Original author(s)
 Mike Krieger
Developer(s) Meta Platforms
Initial release October 6, 2010; 13 years ago[1]
Operating system  iOS

 Android
 Fire OS
 Microsoft Windows
 Web browser
Available in 32[2] languages
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List of languages
License Proprietary software with Terms of

Use
Website instagram.com
This article is part of a series about
Meta Platforms
 History
 Instagram
 WhatsApp
 Acquisitions
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Instagram[a] is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Meta
Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be
organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via geographical tagging.
Posts can be shared publicly or with preapproved followers. Users can browse other
users' content by tags and locations, view trending content, like photos, and follow
other users to add their content to a personal feed.[8] A Meta-operated image-centric
social media platform, it is available on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and the web.
Users can take photos and edit them using built-in filters and other tools, then share
them on other social media platforms like Facebook. It supports 32 languages
including English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Japanese.[9]
Instagram was originally distinguished by allowing content to be framed only in a

square (1:1) aspect ratio of 640 pixels to match the display width of the iPhone at the
time. In 2015, this restriction was eased with an increase to 1080 pixels. It also
added messaging features, the ability to include multiple images or videos in a single
post, and a Stories feature—similar to its main competitor Snapchat—which allowed
users to post their content to a sequential feed, with each post accessible to others
for 24 hours. As of January 2019, Stories is used by 500 million people daily.[8]
Originally launched for iOS in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger,
Instagram rapidly gained popularity, with one million registered users in two months,
10 million in a year, and 1 billion by June 2018. In April 2012, Facebook
Inc. acquired the service for approximately US$1 billion in cash and stock.
The Android version of Instagram was released in April 2012, followed by a feature-
limited desktop interface in November 2012, a Fire OS app in June 2014, and an app
for Windows 10 in October 2016. As of October 2015, over 40 billion photos had
been uploaded. Although often admired for its success and influence, Instagram has
also been criticized for negatively affecting teens' mental health, its policy
and interface changes, its alleged censorship, and illegal and inappropriate content
uploaded by users.
History
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Instagram.
Instagram icon from 2016 to 2022, when it was updated to include even
more saturated colors
Instagram began development in San Francisco as Burbn, a mobile check-in app
created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. On March 5, 2010, Systrom closed a
$500,000 (equivalent to $682,200 in 2023) seed funding round with Baseline
Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz while working on Burbn.[10][11] Realizing that it was
too similar to Foursquare, they refocused their app on photo-sharing, which had
become a popular feature among its users.[12][13] They renamed it Instagram,
a portmanteau of instant camera and telegram.[14]
2010–2011: Beginnings and major funding

Josh Riedel joined the company in October as Community Manager,[15] Shayne
Sweeney joined in November as an engineer,[15] and Jessica Zollman joined as a
Community Evangelist in August 2011.[15][16]
The first Instagram post was a photo of South Beach Harbor at Pier 38, posted by
Mike Krieger at 5:26 p.m. on July 16, 2010.[17][13] On October 6, 2010, the
Instagram iOS app was officially released through the App Store. In February 2011,
it was reported that Instagram had raised $7 million (equivalent to $9,357,057 in
2023) in Series A funding from a variety of investors, including Benchmark
Capital, Jack Dorsey, Chris Sacca (through Capital fund), and Adam D'Angelo.[18] The
deal valued Instagram at around $20 million. In April 2012, Instagram raised
$50 million (equivalent to $65,610,000 in 2023) from venture capitalists with a
valuation of $500 million (equivalent to $656,100,000 in 2023).[19] Joshua
Kushner was the second largest investor in Instagram's Series B fundraising round,
leading his investment firm, Thrive Capital, to double its money after the sale to
Facebook.[20]
2012–2014: Additional platforms and acquisition by Facebook

On April 3, 2012, Instagram released a version of its app for Android phones,[21][22] and
it was downloaded more than one million times in less than one day.[23] The Android
app has since received two significant updates: first, in March 2014, which cut the
file size of the app by half and added performance improvements;[24][25] then in April
2017, to add an offline mode that allows users to view and interact with content
without an Internet connection. At the time of the announcement, it was reported that
80% of Instagram's 600 million users were located outside the U.S., and while the
aforementioned functionality was live at its announcement, Instagram also
announced its intention to make more features available offline, and that they were
"exploring an iOS version". On April 9, 2012, Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms)
bought Instagram for $1 billion (equivalent to $1,312,000,000 in 2023) in cash and
stock,[26][27][28] with a plan to keep the company independently managed.[29][30]
[31]
Britain's Office of Fair Trading approved the deal on August 14, 2012,[32] and on
August 22, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. closed its investigation,
allowing the deal to proceed.[33] On September 6, 2012, the deal between Instagram
and Facebook officially closed with a purchase price of $300 million in cash and
23 million shares of stock.[34]
The deal closed just before Facebook's scheduled initial public offering according
to CNN.[31] The deal price was compared to the $35 million Yahoo! paid for Flickr in
2005.[31] Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook was "committed to building and growing
Instagram independently."[31] According to Wired, the deal netted Systrom
$400 million.[35]
In November 2012, Instagram launched website profiles, allowing anyone to see

user feeds from a web browser with limited functionality,[36] as well as a selection
of badges, and web widget buttons to link to profiles.[37]
Since the app's launch it had used the Foursquare API technology to provide named
location tagging. In March 2014, Instagram started to test and switch the technology
to use Facebook Places.[38][

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"Insta" redirects here.

For other uses, see Instagram (disambiguation) and Insta

Logo used since May 2022

Developer(s) Meta Platforms

Initial release October 6, 2010; 13 years ago[1]

Operating system  iOS

Available in 32[2] languages

License Proprietary software with Terms of

This article is part of a series about

Products and services

Instagram was originally distinguished by allowing content to be framed only in a

2010–2011: Beginnings and major funding

2012–2014: Additional platforms and acquisition by Facebook

In November 2012, Instagram launched website profiles, allowing anyone to see

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