Instagram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Instagram
 |
| Original author(s) |
Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger (Burbn, Inc.) |
| Developer(s) |
Facebook |
| Initial release |
October 6, 2010; 7 years ago |
|
| Stable release(s) [±] |
| Android |
10.30 / July 15, 2017; 2 months ago[1] |
| iOS |
10.29 / July 10, 2017; 2 months ago[2] |
| Windows 10 |
10.915.27847.0 / September 14, 2017; 23 days ago[3] |
| Windows 10 Mobile |
10.1096.22713.0 / September 14, 2017; 23 days ago[4] |
|
| Preview release(s) [±] |
| Android |
18.0.0.14.85 / October 6, 2017; 1 day ago[5] |
|
| Development status |
Active |
| Operating system |
iOS, Android, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 10 |
| Size |
61.9 MB (iOS) |
| Available in |
33 languages[6] |
| Type |
Photo |
| License |
Freeware |
| Alexa rank |
 17 (Global, September 2017)[7] |
| Website |
instagram.com |
Instagram is a
mobile,
desktop, and
Internet-based photo-sharing application and service that allows users to share pictures and videos either publicly or privately. It was created by
Kevin Systrom and
Mike Krieger, and launched in October 2010 as a free
mobile app exclusively for the
iOS operating system. A version for
Android devices was released two years later, in April 2012, followed by a feature-limited
website interface in November 2012, and apps for
Windows 10 Mobile and
Windows 10 in April 2016 and October 2016 respectively.
Instagram lets registered users upload photos or videos to the service. Users can apply various digital
filters to their images, and add locations through
geotags. They can add
hashtags
to their posts, linking the photos up to other content on Instagram
featuring the same subject or overall topic. Users can connect their
Instagram account to other social media profiles, enabling them to share
photos to those profiles as well. Originally, a distinctive feature of
Instagram was its confining of photos to a square; this was changed in
August 2015, when an update started allowing users to upload media at
full size. In June 2012, an "Explore" tab was introduced, showing users a
variety of media, including popular photos and photos taken at nearby
locations, trending tags and places, channels for recommended videos,
and curated content. Support for videos was originally launched in June
2013, and had a 15-second maximum duration and limited quality, with
Instagram later adding support for
widescreen
and longer videos. Private messaging, called Instagram Direct, was
launched with basic photo-sharing functionality in December 2013, and
has gradually received major updates incorporating more features, most
notably text support and "disappearing" photos. In August 2016,
Instagram introduced a "Stories" feature, letting users add photos to a
story, with the content disappearing after 24 hours. Instagram added
live-video functionality to Stories in November 2016,
augmented reality stickers in April 2017, and face filters in May 2017.
After its launch in 2010, Instagram rapidly gained popularity, with
one million registered users in two months, 10 million in a year, and
ultimately 700 million as of April 2017. Its users have uploaded over
40 billion photos to the service as of October 2015. As of April 2017, Instagram Direct has 375 million active users, while, as of June 2017, the Instagram Stories functionality has over 250 million active users. Instagram was acquired by
Facebook in April 2012 for approximately
US$1 billion
in cash and stock. The popularity of Instagram has sparked an engaging
community, including dedicated "trends", in which users post specific
types of photos on specific days of the week with a hashtag representing
a common theme. Instagram has received positive reviews for its iOS
app, and it has been named "one of the most influential social networks
in the world". However, the company has been the subject of criticism,
most notably for policy and
interface changes, allegations of censorship, and illegal or improper content uploaded by users.
