Instagram - Why They're Successful

Summary

Instagram's rise to social media dominance is explored, highlighting its journey from a simple photo-sharing app to a platform with over 2 billion users. Key factors include the founder's Silicon Valley background, the app's user-friendly design, innovative features like filters and stories, and strategic support from Facebook. The video also touches on the impact of Instagram on users' mental health and its competitive landscape.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Instagram reached 1 billion monthly active users in 2018 and doubled to 2 billion by 2022, making it one of the most popular social media platforms globally.
• 📈 The platform's mission to 'capture and share the world's moments' has resonated with users, contributing to its massive user base.
• 🔍 Despite potential negative effects such as depression and anxiety, Instagram remains a favored platform for many due to its ability to connect people through shared experiences.
• 🤖 Kevin Systrom, Instagram's co-founder and CEO for the first eight years, played a pivotal role in the platform's growth, leveraging his background in tech and passion for photography.
• 🛠️ Instagram's simplicity in functionality, allowing users to easily take, edit, and share photos, has been a key factor in its widespread adoption.
• 📸 The introduction of filters and the ability to share photos with friends and followers has been central to Instagram's appeal, setting it apart from competitors.
• 📲 The acquisition by Facebook (now Meta) in 2012 for $1 billion provided Instagram with the resources and support to grow rapidly and introduce new features.
• 📈 Instagram's Stories feature, introduced in 2016, was a strategic move that allowed users to share content that disappears after 24 hours, increasing engagement and combating the pressure of permanent posts.
• 🔄 The platform's ability to adapt and incorporate features from competitors, such as Stories from Snapchat, has helped Instagram stay innovative and maintain its user base.
• 🌟 Instagram's success is a testament to the power of social media in connecting people, the importance of user experience design, and the strategic use of acquisitions and feature adaptations.

Q & A

What was the milestone Instagram surpassed in 2018?

In 2018, Instagram surpassed the milestone of 1 billion monthly active users.

By 2022, how many users did Instagram reportedly have?

By 2022, Instagram reportedly had doubled its user base to 2 billion users.

What was the mission of Instagram according to the script?

Instagram's mission, as stated in the script, is to capture and share the world's moments.

What was Kevin Systrom's background before co-founding Instagram?

Kevin Systrom was originally from Massachusetts, attended Stanford University, worked for Google, and had an interest in photography. He also had connections within the tech industry, including a past interaction with Mark Zuckerberg and a shared desk with Jack Dorsey.

What was the original focus of the app that would later become Instagram?

The original app, called Bourbon, focused on sharing locations with people, similar to Foursquare.

How did the release of the iPhone 4 influence the development of Instagram?

The release of the iPhone 4, with its improved camera, motivated Kevin Systrom to shift the focus of his app towards photo sharing, which eventually led to the creation of Instagram.

What were the two main features that Kevin Systrom grouped together as key to Instagram's success?

The two main features that Kevin Systrom grouped together as key to Instagram's success were filters and sharing.

Why did Facebook acquire Instagram in 2012?

Facebook acquired Instagram to prevent it from potentially combining with Twitter, another major competitor, and to take control of the photo-sharing market more quickly and effectively.

What was the name of the feature Instagram introduced in 2016 that was inspired by Snapchat?

Instagram introduced a feature called 'Stories' in 2016, which was inspired by Snapchat's similar feature.

How did Instagram's Stories feature impact user behavior on the platform?

Instagram's Stories feature allowed users to post content that disappears after 24 hours, reducing the pressure to create perfect, permanent posts, and encouraging more frequent sharing.

What were some of the other features Instagram adapted from Snapchat?

In addition to Stories, Instagram also adapted features like lenses and disappearing messages from Snapchat.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Instagram's Growth and Kevin Systrom's Role

Instagram has experienced remarkable growth, reaching 1 billion monthly active users in 2018 and doubling to 2 billion by 2022. This growth is significant given the global population of around 8 billion, indicating that a substantial portion of the world's population is active on the platform. Kevin Systrom, Instagram's co-founder and CEO for its first eight years, played a pivotal role in this growth. His background in the tech industry, connections with influential figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, and passion for photography made him instrumental in Instagram's success. The video also acknowledges the potential negative effects of social media use, such as depression, anxiety, and feelings of inferiority, while recognizing Instagram's impressive user engagement and mission to capture and share the world's moments.

05:00

🎨 The Impact of Filters and Sharing on Instagram's Success

Filters and sharing capabilities are highlighted as key factors in Instagram's success, setting it apart from competitors. The idea to include filters originated from a conversation between Kevin Systrom and his girlfriend, who felt intimidated by the quality of others' photos. This led to the integration of filter features into the app. Instagram's ability to offer filters and easy sharing made it more appealing than other photo-sharing platforms. The video contrasts Instagram with competitors like PicPlz, which lacked filters, and Hipstamatic, which had filters but was less convenient for sharing. Instagram's early success was further boosted by the iPhone 4's improved camera and the app's simple, user-friendly design, which allowed for quick photo sharing.

10:01

🤝 Facebook's Acquisition and Its Influence on Instagram

Facebook's acquisition of Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion is discussed as a turning point that significantly contributed to Instagram's growth. At the time, Instagram had 30 million users and was competing with Twitter's offer to acquire the company. Facebook's acquisition provided Instagram with essential resources, including design, marketing, and engineering support, which helped the platform introduce new features and grow its user base. The video suggests that Instagram's growth would have been slower without Facebook's infrastructure and resources. The acquisition also led to the departure of Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger from their positions at Instagram in 2018 due to reported tensions with Mark Zuckerberg over the platform's direction.

📱 The Introduction of Instagram Stories and Its Impact

The final paragraph discusses the introduction of Instagram Stories in 2016 as a strategic move that addressed users' hesitance to post permanent content. The feature allows users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours, reducing the pressure to create perfect posts. Instagram Stories were inspired by Snapchat's similar feature and quickly surpassed Snapchat in popularity due to Instagram's larger user base. The video also mentions that Instagram adopted other features from Snapchat, such as lenses and disappearing messages, which have contributed to its success. The paragraph concludes by inviting viewers to share their thoughts on Instagram's success and to consider the interconnected nature of social media platforms.

Keywords

💡Instagram

Instagram is a social media platform focused on sharing photos and videos. It is central to the video's theme as it discusses the platform's growth and success. The video mentions Instagram surpassing 1 billion monthly active users in 2018 and doubling that number by 2022, highlighting its massive popularity.

💡Monthly Active Users (MAU)

Monthly Active Users refers to the number of unique users who access a website or app in a given month. In the context of the video, this metric is used to measure Instagram's growth, with the platform reaching 1 billion MAU in 2018 and doubling to 2 billion by 2022, indicating its widespread adoption.

💡Kevin Systrom

Kevin Systrom is identified as a key figure in Instagram's success, being the co-founder and CEO for the first eight years. His background in tech, ambition, and passion for photography made him instrumental in shaping Instagram's early trajectory, as discussed in the video.

💡Simplicity

Simplicity in the context of the video refers to the ease of use and intuitive design of Instagram. It is highlighted as a significant factor in the platform's success, as it allows users to quickly and easily share photos with minimal complexity, contrasting with other platforms that may be more difficult to navigate.

💡Filters

Filters are tools within Instagram that allow users to apply various visual effects to their photos. The video discusses how the introduction of filters was a strategic move to enhance the appeal of the platform, making it more attractive to users who want to enhance their photos with artistic or creative effects.

💡Sharing

Sharing in the context of Instagram refers to the ability to post and disseminate content to one's followers or the broader Instagram community. The video emphasizes the importance of sharing as a core feature that has contributed to Instagram's success, allowing users to communicate and connect through shared visual content.

💡Facebook Acquisition

The Facebook Acquisition refers to Facebook's purchase of Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. This event is highlighted in the video as a turning point that provided Instagram with the resources and support to grow rapidly, leveraging Facebook's infrastructure and expertise.

💡Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are a feature that allows users to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. The video discusses the introduction of Stories in 2016 as a strategic move to counteract the pressure of permanent posts and to compete with Snapchat, ultimately leading to increased user engagement.

💡Snapchat

Snapchat is a social media platform that focuses on ephemeral content, with a feature set that includes disappearing messages and Stories. The video mentions Snapchat as a competitor that inspired Instagram to introduce its own Stories feature, which has been a significant driver of user interaction and platform growth.

💡User Base

User base refers to the total number of users of a service or product. In the video, the growth of Instagram's user base is a key indicator of its success, with the platform attracting billions of users and becoming one of the most popular social media platforms globally.

💡Social Media Platform

A social media platform is an online service that allows users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. The video's central theme revolves around Instagram as a social media platform, examining its evolution, user engagement strategies, and its role in the broader social media landscape.

Highlights

Instagram surpassed 1 billion monthly active users in 2018 and doubled to 2 billion by 2022.

Instagram's mission is to capture and share the world's moments.

Instagram's simplicity is a primary concern, ensuring easy photo sharing.

Instagram was almost an instant success, with 25,000 sign-ups on the first day.

Filters and sharing are two of Instagram's most known features, contributing to its success.

Facebook's acquisition of Instagram in 2012 provided significant support for its growth.

Instagram Stories, introduced in 2016, was a game-changer, allowing posts to disappear after 24 hours.

Kevin Systrom's background in the tech industry and passion for photography made him a perfect fit for starting Instagram.

Instagram's early app, Bourbon, was redeveloped into a photo-sharing app due to competition and market demand.

The iPhone 4's improved camera motivated Instagram's shift towards photo sharing.

Instagram's name is a combination of 'instant' and 'telegram', reflecting its photo-sharing nature.

Instagram's initial success was attributed to its unique filters and sharing capabilities.

Facebook's infrastructure allowed Instagram to grow more than twice as quickly as it would have on its own.

Instagram's Stories feature was inspired by Snapchat and quickly surpassed it in popularity.

Instagram has adapted features from Snapchat, including lenses and disappearing messages, to enhance its platform.

Instagram's success story involves competition and collaboration with other major social media platforms.

Transcripts

[Music]

Instagram is one of the most popular

social media Platforms in the world in

2018 it surpassed the Milestone of 1

billion monthly active users and by 2022

that number had reportedly doubled to 2

billion users that is almost hard to

believe considering there are only about

8 billion people on Earth meaning a

quarter of everyone alive today is

actively using Instagram has allowed us

to share photos and communicate with

each other on a scale that would have

been impossible at any other time in

human history it's pretty crazy when you

think about it they have said that their

mission is to capture and share the

world's moments and I do think they

achieved that a few years ago when I ran

a poll on this channel my audience

selected Instagram as their favorite

social media far above some of the other

major platforms now I have to recognize

that along with those other platforms

there are potential negative effects to

using it such as depression and anxiety

fear of missing out and feeling inferior

when you see all the cool stuff everyone

else is posting selectively making their

lives look so amazing all of those are

very real concerns that should make us

cautious but however you feel about

Instagram it is undeniably been among

the biggest success stories of the past

couple decades something that didn't

exist until 2010 is being used by

billions of people and I think that's

impressive enough to take a deeper look

into how that happened so for this video

I want to talk about the evolution of

Instagram while ident ifying what I

believe to be five of the biggest

reasons behind its success starting off

with Kevin cyome he was the co-founder

and CEO of Instagram for the first eight

years being the main person in charge

while it attracted those first billion

users and Kevin cro had what I would

consider to be the perfect background to

start a company like this he was

originally from Massachusetts where his

mother worked in the tech industry for

college in the early 2000s he moved

across the country to Silicon Valley to

attend Stanford University after

graduating with a degree in management

science and engineering he worked for

Google for 2 years and then another

website called Next Stop while working

there he spent his nights and weekends

learning how to code and independently

started developing his own app so

clearly he was intelligent ambitious and

familiar with the industry he also built

up connections over that time that would

later prove to be useful like back in

2004 when Mark Zuckerberg was in the

early days of developing Facebook when

it was still called the Facebook at the

time he unsuccessfully to convince cro

to drop out of college and work for him

for a college internship cro worked for

an early podcasting company called Odio

where he worked with people who became

key figures behind Twitter he even said

that he basically shared a desk with

Jack dorsy for three months Jack dorsy

of course went on to be a co-founder of

Twitter and serve as CEO of it for about

15 years additionally Kevin cyrm had an

interest in photography in high school

he was the president of the photography

club and even spent some time in college

studying Photography in Italy so between

his experience in the Silicon Valley

tech industry his connections with

people who became some of the most

powerful within that industry and his

passion for photography you could see

why I think he was pretty much the

perfect person to start a company like

Instagram in fact he is going to be a

major factor in every other reason on my

list so I'm going to move on to the next

one and talk about Simplicity I don't

have too much to say here but most

people will tell you that Instagram is

fairly easy to use taking photo adding

filters sharing them it's all pretty

fast and straightforward as it should be

maybe this doesn't even sound like an

important factor but I couldn't tell you

how many times I've gotten frustrated

with an app or a website because the

layout or the functionality or whatever

else was confusing it's actually been a

popular complaint against Twitter over

the years but with Instagram Simplicity

has always been a primary concern making

sure the users have to press as few

buttons as possible for any given

function in 2009 when Kevin cro was

working at NextStop learning to code in

in his free time in building an app well

that app was called bourbon spelled

without the O's it did allow you to

share photos but the primary focus of it

was to share your location with people

along the same lines as for square as a

matter of fact for square had just come

out earlier that year and test groups

were seeing bourbon as a more

complicated version of it he was in a

tough situation he had just quit his job

recruited an engineer he knew from

Stanford named Mike ker to be his

business partner secured $500,000 from

investors and he was quickly learning

that his app was too complex and not all

that unique his solution was to

completely shift the focus of it toward

the photos see the iPhone 4 with a

greatly improved camera had just been

released selling 1.7 million units

within 3 days and what Steve Jobs called

the most successful product launch in

Apple's history it motivated cyran

kigger to spend the next 8 weeks

redeveloping bourbon into an iPhone

photos sharing app by eliminating almost

all the other parts of it oddly enough

the first photo they uploaded to it was

of a random dog that they found near a

taco stand while they were visiting

Mexico by October they had renamed it

Instagram as a combination of the words

instant and telegram I would say a much

better name and they launched it to the

public where it was almost an instant

success all of their expectations were

exceeded when so many people downloaded

it that their servers kept crashing

25,000 people signed up within the first

day and that was up to a million in less

than 3 months all impressive numbers but

keep in mind that there were many other

comparable apps on the market at the

time it brings me to the next reason

behind their success where I'm going to

group together filters and sharing I

mean these are two of the things that

Instagram is most known for that is why

a lot of people use it so they can apply

cool or artistic or funny filters to

their photos and share them with their

friends or followers right so obviously

providing the tools to do it has been a

huge factor in their success Kevin cstm

says that he had the idea of adding

filters when he was talking to his

girlfriend about how to improve that

initial bourbon app she said she didn't

like posting photos to it because

someone else that was testing it was

posting photos that look so much better

than hers that's when he realized that

the other person was using an outside

filter app to alter them and it would be

smart to include that feature into his

app early on an app called pick please

was a notable competitor it was

available months before Instagram even

came out already with over a 100,000

downloads but it didn't offer filters

and effects until after Instagram came

out on the other end it hips to mic was

another competitor already well

established before Instagram in 2010

Apple even named their app the app of

the Year people were attracted by their

filters and editing tools but they were

lacking the social media end there

weren't easy and convenient ways to

share the photos that people had edited

so again Instagram was looking more

attractive right out the gate they had

the filters and sharing capabilities

that were better developed and more

appealing than anything else on the

market and it made them stand out for my

next reason I'm going to have to say

Facebook or meta as it's now called has

been important to Instagram's success

for less than 2 years Instagram and

Facebook were direct competitors and

that both of them were trying to get

people to share photos using their

platform well the way I understand it is

that in 2012 when Instagram had just

surpassed 30 million users a sizable

user base they finally released their

Android app being only available for

iPhone up until that point was part of

the motivation for cyr's former

colleague Jack dorsy as the head of

Twitter to offer $500 million to acquire

Instagram Mark Zuckerberg over at

Facebook didn't want two of his biggest

competitors to combine so seemingly to

prevent that from happening he quickly

swooped in with an uncharacteristic $1

billion offer to acquire Instagram it

was twice the value that they had been

assigned in a recent round of funding

and obviously twice the amount Twitter

was offering it was considered to be

Facebook's first major acquisition too

paying 10 times more for it than

anything they had bought before though

they did acquire WhatsApp for

considerably more money less than 2

years later Facebook had been busy

developing their own separate photo

sharing app but this was a much faster

and effective way of taking control of

that market whatever the circumstances

Facebook became the new owner of

Instagram and ever since has been that

larger company providing much needed

support as far as design marketing

engineering teams allowing Instagram to

add all of these new features over the

years such as video sharing in 2013 to

compete with Vine and Reals in 2020 to

compete with Tik Tok among many others

and despite having 30 million users at

the time of the acquisition Instagram

had no revenue and only 13 employees

that's why it took them so long to come

out with the Android app so clearly the

growth of the platform has been much

smoother under the control of Facebook

than it would have been otherwise when

they hit that 1 billion user Milestone

Mark Zuckerberg himself said We Believe

Instagram has been able to use

Facebook's infrastructure to grow more

than twice as quickly as it would have

on its own CIS stromman Kiger continued

to serve as CEO and CTO of Instagram

under the control of Facebook until they

both left their positions in 2018 that

is a whole other subject that could be

explored but the reason reported behind

it was tensions with Mark Zuckerberg

over the direction of Instagram moving

on to my final reason behind Instagram

success I'm going to say it's stories in

short an Instagram story is something

that you post on the app that disappears

after 24 hours it sounds simple enough

but introducing this feature in 2016 was

a genius move considered that people

were getting hesitant to post anything

on Instagram and that was a problem

there could be a lot of pressure there

everyone's going to see it it's going to

be there forever so you have to make

sure you look good and the angle is

right and the lighting is perfect and

let's just say that a lot of people take

photos that they don't necessarily feel

our Instagram worthy well Snapchat was

established as kind of an alternative to

that their whole concept is based on the

fact that the stuff you share will

disappear since it's going to be gone

soon it doesn't have to be perfect it's

kind of like the opposite of Instagram

in 2013 Snapchat introduced stories it

shows photos in chronological order that

will be deleted in 24 hours well that

same year Instagram offered $3 billion

to buy Snapchat the offer was rejected

so in 2016 they pretty much copied

Snapchat by introducing a suspiciously

similar feature

that was also called stories Kevin syro

pretty much admits to taking the idea

from Snapchat saying they deserve all

the credits since Instagram stories edit

a few small improvements like the

ability to pause and go back on the

slideshow and because Instagram has a

much bigger user base that's where

everyone's at they quickly surpass

Snapchat in popularity I've made a video

that talks about the success and

struggles of Snapchat and as part of it

I talk about how Instagram copying them

potentially hurt their business and the

stories aren't the only features they

adapted from Snapchat they have also

followed their lead with lenses and

disappearing messages so you can debate

the legality and ethicality of all of it

but these additions have been helpful

for Instagram let me know in the

comments are you among the 2 billion

monthly active Instagram users and if so

why do you use it and what would you say

are some of the biggest reasons behind

their success I want to remind you that

my list is not complete it is only what

I believe to be the top reason so tell

me if you think anything should be added

or subtracted from it I think this is

such an interesting story that heavily

involves some of the other biggest

social media platforms so it shows how

they have helped and hurt each other and

how it's all connected in different ways

so any other thoughts you have about

Instagram or any of the other social

media platforms leave them in the

comments I'd like to hear what you have

to say thank you for

[Music]

watching

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