Ondrej Holzman Like a bolt from the blue, the news that Facebook is buying Instagram just came out. For a billion dollars, which is approximately 19 billion crowns. What can we expect?
A very unexpected acquisition he announced on Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg himself. Everything comes just a few days after the gates of the popular photo social network they opened even for Android users.
Instagram has been around for less than two years, during which time a relatively innocent startup has turned into one of the most popular social networks today. It's a photo-sharing app that's only available for mobile phones, maintaining an iOS exclusivity until recently. Instagram currently has 30 million users, although at the beginning of last year there were only one million.
Apparently, Facebook realized how powerful Instagram could become, so before it could really threaten it, it stepped in and bought Instagram instead. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, said about the whole event:
“I am excited to announce that we have agreed to acquire Instagram, whose talented team will join Facebook.
We've spent years trying to create the best possible experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now we'll be able to work with Instagram to offer the best way to share amazing mobile photos with like-minded people.
We believe that these are two different things that complement each other. However, to deal with them well, we should build on Instagram's strengths and features, rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.
That's why we want to keep Instagram independent to grow and evolve on its own. Instagram is loved by millions of people around the world and our goal is to spread this brand further.
We think that connecting Instagram with other services outside of Facebook is very important. We do not plan to cancel the ability to share to other social networks, it will not even be necessary to share all photos on Facebook, and there will still be separate people you follow on Facebook and which on Instagram.
This and many other features are an important part of Instagram, which we understand. We will try to take the best from Instagram and use the acquired experience in our products. In the meantime, we intend to help Instagram grow with our strong development team and infrastructure.
This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've bought a product and a company with so many users. We have no plans to do anything like this in the future, maybe never again. However, sharing photos is one of the main reasons people love Facebook so much, so it was clear to us that combining the two companies was worth it.
We look forward to working with the Instagram team and everything we create together.”
There was an immediate wave of hysteria on Twitter similar to when Instagram appeared on Android, but I think most users condemned the move prematurely without knowing the details. Indeed, judging by his announcement, Zuckerberg does not plan to carry out a similar process with Instagram as with Gowalla, which he also bought and closed shortly after.
If Instagram continues to remain (relatively) independent, both parties can benefit from this deal. As already indicated by Zuckerberg, Instagram will get a very strong development background, and Facebook will gain invaluable experience in the field of photo sharing, which is one of its most fundamental functions, which is constantly undergoing development.
He commented on the whole matter on Instagram blog also CEO Kevin Systrom:
“When Mike and I started Instagram almost two years ago, we wanted to change and improve the way people around the world communicate with each other. We've had an amazing time watching Instagram grow into a diverse community of people from all over the world. We are very excited to announce that Instagram will be acquired by Facebook.
Every day we just watch things being shared through Instagram that we didn't even think were possible. It's only thanks to our talented and dedicated team that we've come this far, and with the support of Facebook, where many talented people full of ideas also work, we hope to create an even better future for Instagram and Facebook.
It is important to say that Instagram definitely does not end here. We will work with Facebook to develop Instagram, continue to add new features, and try to find ways to make the whole mobile photo sharing experience even better.
Instagram will continue to be the way you know and love it. You'll keep the same people you follow and who follow you. There will still be an option to share photos on other social networks. And there will still be all the features as before.
We're thrilled to be joining Facebook and look forward to building a better Instagram.”
Systrom practically only confirmed the words of Mark Zuckerberg, when he emphasized that Instagram is definitely not capitulating with this step, but on the contrary, it will continue to develop. This is undoubtedly good news for users, and I personally look forward to seeing what this collaboration can eventually produce.
“This is a photo sharing app that is only available for mobile phones…”
I don't know, I don't know; everyone I know uses Instagram on an iPad and has an iPad (2-3). Don't sew with such a hot needle all the time!
Of course, it can be installed on the iPad, but it is still an iPhone application.
I have a smaller resolution on the iPad :D