10 Interesting Facts & Figures You Should Know about Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing application that was once available for iOS only, has grown into one of the biggest and most influential social networks in the world.
How old is Instagram? How many people use it to share photos and videos with others? Answers to these questions and more are available below.
1. There are 3 companion "from Instagram" apps
Alongside the official Instagram app, there are 3 more apps that carry the "from Instagram" moniker: Hyperlapse, Layout and Boomerang.
Hyperlapse can be used to create time lapse videos, Layout can be used to create photo collages, and Boomerang lets you create short videos that loop back and forth. Read more about these three "from Instagram" apps here.
2. Instagram is 6 and a half years old
Instagram launched on October 6, 2010. According to Wolfram Alpha, this makes it 6 years, 6 months, and 27 days old.
At launch, Instagram was available for iOS only. It took almost two years for the app to eventually become available for Android, on April 3, 2012. The Windows Phone app took even longer to be released, until November 2013.
3. Share 10 photos and videos in one post
There was a time when you could only post 1 photo or 1 video at a time. This changed in February 2017 when Instagram introduced an update, allowing you to share up to 10 photos and videos in one post.
4. Instagram is localized in 33 languages
Instagram provides support for English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Romanian, Turkish, and many other languages. 33 languages in all.
If you don’t know how to change the language, instructions on how to do that are available here.
5. On day one, 25,000 people signed up to try Instagram
As mentioned above, Instagram launched on October 6, 2010. Some 25,000 people signed up to use Instagram on that day.
6. More than 38,000 posts in one minute
One minute isn’t a lot of time. Yet, it’s more than enough time for 38,194 posts to make it onto Instagram. Seeing that this figure is from 2016, I’m going to guess that the number is currently higher than that.
7. Instagram's own account has 222 million followers
Instagram’s own @instagram account has more than 222 million followers, making it the most followed account on the platform. It’s well ahead of any other celebrity who is on Instagram.
Selena Gomez, the second most followed person on Instagram, has 119 million followers. Ariana Grande, the third on the list, has 104 million followers. And Taylor Swift, the fourth on the list, has 101 million followers.
8. There are more than 700 million Instagrammers
On April 26, 2017, Instagram was glad to announce that the number of people who use the photo-sharing service has grown to 700 million.
The number of Instagrammers has steadily grown over time: 25,000 on day one in October 2010, 80 million by July 2012, 100 million by February 2013, 300 million by December 2014, 400 million by September 2015, 500 million by June 2016, 600 million by December 2016, and 700 million as of April 2017.
9. Facebook paid $1 billion for Instagram
Instagram belongs to Facebook, who paid approximately $1 billion to purchase it back in April 2012. A billion may sound like much, but it’s a bargain compared to the $19 billion Facebook paid to buy WhatsApp in 2014.
Fun fact: Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stopped posting on Instagram when Facebook acquired it. He was reportedly so brokenhearted that he just stopped using Instagram. His last post is from April 9, 2012, the day that Facebook bought Instagram.
10. Over a billion downloads from Google Play alone
While Google Play doesn’t offer a precise download count, it provides a ballpark figure and right now, the Instagram app for Android has been downloaded more than 1 billion times from Google Play.
How old is Instagram? How many people use it to share photos and videos with others? Answers to these questions and more are available below.
1. There are 3 companion "from Instagram" apps
Alongside the official Instagram app, there are 3 more apps that carry the "from Instagram" moniker: Hyperlapse, Layout and Boomerang.
Hyperlapse can be used to create time lapse videos, Layout can be used to create photo collages, and Boomerang lets you create short videos that loop back and forth. Read more about these three "from Instagram" apps here.
2. Instagram is 6 and a half years old
Instagram launched on October 6, 2010. According to Wolfram Alpha, this makes it 6 years, 6 months, and 27 days old.
At launch, Instagram was available for iOS only. It took almost two years for the app to eventually become available for Android, on April 3, 2012. The Windows Phone app took even longer to be released, until November 2013.
3. Share 10 photos and videos in one post
There was a time when you could only post 1 photo or 1 video at a time. This changed in February 2017 when Instagram introduced an update, allowing you to share up to 10 photos and videos in one post.
4. Instagram is localized in 33 languages
Instagram provides support for English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Romanian, Turkish, and many other languages. 33 languages in all.
If you don’t know how to change the language, instructions on how to do that are available here.
5. On day one, 25,000 people signed up to try Instagram
As mentioned above, Instagram launched on October 6, 2010. Some 25,000 people signed up to use Instagram on that day.
6. More than 38,000 posts in one minute
One minute isn’t a lot of time. Yet, it’s more than enough time for 38,194 posts to make it onto Instagram. Seeing that this figure is from 2016, I’m going to guess that the number is currently higher than that.
7. Instagram's own account has 222 million followers
Instagram’s own @instagram account has more than 222 million followers, making it the most followed account on the platform. It’s well ahead of any other celebrity who is on Instagram.
Selena Gomez, the second most followed person on Instagram, has 119 million followers. Ariana Grande, the third on the list, has 104 million followers. And Taylor Swift, the fourth on the list, has 101 million followers.
8. There are more than 700 million Instagrammers
On April 26, 2017, Instagram was glad to announce that the number of people who use the photo-sharing service has grown to 700 million.
The number of Instagrammers has steadily grown over time: 25,000 on day one in October 2010, 80 million by July 2012, 100 million by February 2013, 300 million by December 2014, 400 million by September 2015, 500 million by June 2016, 600 million by December 2016, and 700 million as of April 2017.
9. Facebook paid $1 billion for Instagram
Instagram belongs to Facebook, who paid approximately $1 billion to purchase it back in April 2012. A billion may sound like much, but it’s a bargain compared to the $19 billion Facebook paid to buy WhatsApp in 2014.
Fun fact: Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stopped posting on Instagram when Facebook acquired it. He was reportedly so brokenhearted that he just stopped using Instagram. His last post is from April 9, 2012, the day that Facebook bought Instagram.
10. Over a billion downloads from Google Play alone
While Google Play doesn’t offer a precise download count, it provides a ballpark figure and right now, the Instagram app for Android has been downloaded more than 1 billion times from Google Play.
