Instagram is a mobile photography community where people can immortalize their visual experiences and share their photos on different platforms with simple filters. Instagram, one of the world’s most popular photo and video sharing platforms, was founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. People loved it in a short time thanks to its filters that make the photos more beautiful. In addition, users had the opportunity to share the photos they shared on Instagram on other social networks instantly, practically, and quickly. However, one of the important reasons for the rise is the acquisition of Instagram by Facebook. Why was Instagram, which is growing and becoming popular, sold to Facebook? How much did Facebook buy Instagram for? Here are all the details…
Instagram was first developed in San Francisco under the name Burbn. This was a mobile check-in app. The founders focused on the photo sharing feature of their app. Combining the words “instant” and “telegram”, they renamed the app Instagram. Instagram reached 200 thousand users in its first week.
History of the Purchase
Founded in December 2010, the company received $7 million in funding from a group of investors through February 2011. At the end of the fundraising process, the company’s value reached $20 million. Instagram had a 13 person team in 2012. It had only 27 million users. In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for a full $1 billion. Although Instagram’s digital photo archive is very small comparing to Facebook’s, it has strategic importance for various reasons. “Photo sharing” has a very important place in Facebook’s corporate strategy, and they reveal this at every opportunity. Every day, 250 million new photos are uploaded to Facebook. It is not difficult to realize that the biggest success that distinguishes this social media giant from other sites is photo sharing and tagging.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook wrote in a post: “For years, we have focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we will be able 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.”
“This is an important milestone for Facebook because it is the first time we have ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook, and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”
Why Is Instagram so Popular?
The reason why Instagram is so popular is that users can easily make changes to photos as much as they want and for free through Instagram filters and turn them into professional photos. In addition, users can instantly share these photos, which they enriched with various effects, with their friends. In this regard, Instagram is not only a photo editing tool but also a social network.
After Facebook bought Instagram, Instagram turned into a completely different application by adding features such as video adding, sponsored content, business account, story feature, and camera filters. The new features added to continue this rise that Instagram has caught and to increase the number of users even more, bring successful results. As such, the idea that there will be no limit to the innovations of the application began to dominate. The Stories section of the app has been constantly updated, and many more adjustments have been made. What other features could be added was a matter of curiosity. However, the emerging new information shows that there will be no limit for Instagram Updates as we expect and even new updates are quietly tested.
With all these features, as of the end of 2019, it has 879 million users and a value of 100 billion dollars. The value of Instagram has increased 100 times in 8 years, has thus become a very lucrative gateway for Facebook. Instagram is expected to reach 2 billion users by 2023.
Instagram and Digital Marketing
The app is also used as an e-commerce platform. It has become unique in the field of digital marketing. This is another factor that makes Instagram special and important. The sales made by businesses on Instagram have shown that Instagram is not an ordinary social network or photo editing/sharing application. Instagram offers brands a unique opportunity to engage in meaningful visual communication with their customers.
Users who make strategic moves have started to earn revenue from Instagram. Features such as sponsored ads, product tagging feature, company account creation, statistics have made it easier for brands that make sales and marketing here. For example, thanks to product tagging, users have the opportunity to visit the Instagram store of the brands they follow.
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Also, accounts with a lot of likes and followers have begun to be called “influencers”. Influencers and businesses have reached more people and increased their income by getting ads and collaborating. If you are not using Instagram to promote your brand, you should consider how you can evaluate the app and its tools to improve your current communication strategy.
Instagram has gained an important position among all social networks in terms of brand and advertising, which has expanded thanks to Facebook’s opportunities.
App Combination
Also, Facebook paid $19 billion to buy the messaging company WhatsApp in 2014. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg plans to destroy all of the independence by setting up a single system to rule Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, bringing their backends closer to that of his social network. This consolidation can benefit billions of users, such as making it easier for anyone to send messages between apps. Contrary to decreasing trust in Facebook and bad rumors among the founders of Silicon Valley, the Facebook CEO wants more control over the leading apps. It was stated that while all three services continue to operate as independent applications, basic messaging infrastructures will be combined. Instagram and Messenger messaging infrastructures have already been combined. You can send messages in connection with Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM.
Concluding Instagram’s Purchase
Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. It also bought WhatsApp, an online messaging application, with a $19 billion deal. This is the biggest purchase Facebook has ever made. Facebook continues to add many features after buying Instagram. The popularity and value of the application are increasing day by day. In this article, we talked about how much did Facebook buy Instagram for, which currently has more than 1 billion active users. If you like our article, we recommend you to take a look at our other blog posts about social media platforms. You may also like how to follow Facebook friends on Instagram.
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Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 was one of the most significant deals in the history of the tech industry. The deal was seen as a major coup for Facebook, who were able to secure one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. The acquisition has been a major success for both companies, with Instagram becoming one of the most popular and widely used social media platforms in the world. The deal was a testament to Facebook’s ability to identify and capitalize on opportunities, and it has paid off in spades.