Almost everyone knows what social networks are. We spend a large part of our free time on them, chatting, making new friends, and sharing our emotions. A bright example is Instagram – a unique platform that allows not only communication with other users, but also sharing photos, videos, and leaving comments on them. With the help of this service, anyone can transform even the worst photo using a wide range of filters. In this article, we will talk about what Instagram is, when it appeared, in what year, and who created it.
Drunk diary and walks around Italy
Instagram is a globally recognized social network that has caused a real stir in the world of the internet and digital technologies. Today, it is a convenient platform for users to communicate, publish photos and videos, and a platform for conducting commercial activities. The social network allows consumers to turn any photo into a bright and high-quality image using special filters. But how did it all begin?
The history of Instagram’s creation is the success of a simple and talented student from Stanford – Kevin Systrom. The young man’s simple hobby gradually turned into a successful business, which later brought him multimillion-dollar earnings. From childhood, Kevin loved photography and software development. The result of the merger of these two areas of activity was Instagram.
It all started with a simple website he created as a student. Access to this portal was only available to a select group of users – classmates and friends of the young developer. On the site, students shared photos from their parties and get-togethers. Soon, Kevin grew tired of student life and decided to go on vacation to Italy to devote his free time to studying the nuances of photography.
Surrounded by beautiful views, a new idea sparked in the young man’s head – to start a business. Upon returning home, Kevin enrolled in courses on creating startups. A lengthy search for ideas for an initial push in the business world began. In the end, against the backdrop of Facebook’s resounding success, he found his way and decided to invent his own social network, which would later become the well-known Instagram.
The first development is the foundation of future success
The history of Instagram begins after Kevin decides to transform his website into something bigger. The young man planned to create a service for exchanging and publishing photos, not just for his friends and acquaintances, but for a larger number of users. In his free time from work, Systrom begins developing his brainchild. Soon the future service is named Burbn, but the young developer did not have the money for its implementation and promotion, so he decides to attract investors to develop his business.
He didn’t have to wait long, investors appeared, but with one condition – Kevin had to find a partner for further cooperation. Soon Mike Krieger, a Stanford graduate and Kevin’s friend, joined the development. At that time, the new partner was also developing his own project – the communication service Meebo. The ideas of the two colleagues began to intertwine, and the social network Burbn was born. Despite a significant number of subscribers and consumers, the service did not receive the expected success and did not become popular. The application was able to attract no more than 1,000 regular subscribers.
They understood perfectly well that social networks face great competition and it is difficult to break through to the top. Soon Kevin came up with another idea, to create a service that would turn even the worst photos into quality images. For this, filters were needed that would turn an ordinary user into a professional photographer.
On the night of October 6, 2010, the developers created the first version of Instagram and uploaded it to the AppStore with free access. Initially, the project was designed only for users of the world-famous Apple brand. This day is the date of the creation of a new and successful social network. Instantly, the first users appeared, the free application gained popularity.
Within the first few days after the service was released, it was downloaded by more than 25,000 consumers from around the world. This was just the beginning. The young developers worked tirelessly and maintained the platform from unexpected crashes due to the huge number of users. Soon, Kevin assembled his own team and managers.
Together with the popularity, the team grew. The service, where you can share your photos and communicate, received tremendous success on all continents. In the winter of 2011, the developers came up with hashtag systems, which significantly simplified the search for photos in the social network. In the same year, an update to version 2.0 was released, which pleased consumers with new live filters.
In the spring of 2012, the social network increased its influence, a version for mobile devices with the Android platform was released. The next day, the application was downloaded more than 1 million times.
Thus, a simple student was able to create a multimillion-dollar social network, which continues to occupy leading positions in the global market of software and applications in terms of popularity.
What does Facebook have to do with it?
Facebook was the first social network of its kind that revolutionized the way users communicate online. It was created many years before Instagram and became an inspiration for Kevin and his business partners. In 2012, Facebook founder Zuckerberg became interested in the creation of the young guys, which was just beginning to gain momentum.
On April 9th, a deal was made, as a result of which the management and ownership rights of Instagram were transferred to Zuckerberg. The developers received 1 billion dollars in return, 30 percent in cash, and the rest in Facebook company shares. Thus, simple students turned into millionaires, and Instagram became the property of Facebook.
Initially, analysts considered the purchase of Instagram a rash move, as at that time the application of newcomers was only gaining popularity and could burst like a soap bubble at any moment. Zuckerberg’s foresight and intuition did not fail him. Soon, the social network was ported to the Windows platform.
Now, Instagram can be used as an application on any platform or online for free on the website. The service is integrated with other social networks – Vkontakte and Facebook.
Differences of the service from other social networks
Nowadays, the service occupies a leading position among all social networks in the world, thanks to its uniqueness and interesting way of communication and news publication. In this case, information is transmitted in the form of photos and graphic images, which significantly simplifies its perception by users.
Let’s consider the main differences of Instagram from other social networks and its advantages:
- The ability to publish photos and videos.
- A large number of special filters that can be used to process any photo or video to your liking. Filters can turn even the most unsuccessful photo into a work of art.
- Uploading short videos up to 60 seconds long. Recording can be done directly through the application, applying filters, captions, and other images and effects to it.
- The ability to run a blog and organize live broadcasts.
- Communication with other users in a private chat, writing comments, and evaluating publications.
- The hashtag system, which allows you to find publications on a given topic.
- A simple and easy-to-use interface.
- A platform for commercial activity. The ability to place ads and monetize your personal page through subscribers.
All of this turns Instagram into a multifunctional social network and messenger that not only allows you to communicate and publish photos but also earn money from your creativity and blogging.
How to use – a brief guide for beginners
If you have never used the Instagram app before and want to give it a try, it won’t be difficult to learn how to use and navigate the service’s interface. All you need is the desire to share photos. The app is available for download and compatible with all modern smartphones. We will explain how the app works and provide instructions on how to use it.
After downloading the app, you need to install it and register your personal profile online. To do this, you will need to:
- Launch the utility from your phone.
- Log in to the system using your Facebook account or register using your email and phone number.
- Enter your mobile phone number and email address.
- Enter your personal information – last name and first name. Come up with a unique login for your account and a secure password.
- Done. The system will offer to synchronize with the social network Vkontakte and provide a list of all your friends registered on Instagram.
After that, you will be in the main menu of the service. The bottom panel contains management tools:
- The home button will take you to the main page where you can see the stories and news of users you follow.
- The search button allows you to find new friends and interesting publications.
- To add your photo to the feed, simply click on the plus sign icon. The system will ask you to select a photo or video from your smartphone’s memory or take one without leaving the app. Choose the filter you like, add effects for variety, and caption the publication. If necessary, you can share the photo on other synchronized social networks.
- The next tab looks like a heart, and it displays positive ratings, likes, and comments from other users on your publications.
- Your personal profile. Here you can edit your personal information, set an avatar for your account, write your current status, see your current followers and subscriptions.
- The private chat icon is located on the top panel of the desktop. Here you can chat with your friends.
If you swipe right across the screen, the instant shooting menu will open. Without leaving the app, you can shoot a short story using different effects – slow motion, boomerang, reverse shooting, focus, and super zoom, as well as start a live stream. After publishing the story, it will appear in the news feed on the top panel, simultaneously for all your followers.
Under each photo, you can like it by clicking on the heart or leave a text comment.
What are the founders of Instagram busy with today?
What happened to the creator of the social network after it was sold to Facebook? After the deal was completed, the developers continued to work on their brainchild, but only under Zuckerberg’s leadership. For a long time, they focused on monetizing the service and developing other directions. In 2018, Kevin and Krieger announced their departure from Facebook.
Despite the break in relations, they remained good friends with Zuckerberg. The reason for their departure was disagreements in the further development of the project. Initially, Kevin planned to create a platform for communication and photo sharing without advertising, but the new owners did not share the same opinion. Instagram turned into a successful commercial project. Kevin, realizing that he had betrayed his priorities, decided to go his own way and work on new projects.
Soon after these events, news portals sounded the alarm, believing that the Instagram program would soon fold without its founders. Now, Instagram is the largest platform for earning and advertising, which means that it is unlikely that the social network will be closed.
Instagram is a social network created by an ordinary student enthusiast with the help of friends. The service has been loved by millions of users from all over the world for its simplicity and convenience. Instagram is an opportunity to share your stories and photos, hide your ordinary life behind bright pictures and filters.