In the vast world of social media, Instagram stands out as a platform that has radically changed the way we share and consume visual content. Founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the app has taken our screens by storm and created a lasting cultural impact. But when was this platform launched? In this article, we'll find out in detail when Instagram was created and its influence on the modern digital landscape.
Instagram history
The story of Instagram has its roots in the creative minds of Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, two engineers passionate about the potential of photography and social media. While working on an earlier project called Burbn, an app with a location-based photo-sharing feature. They realized there was untapped potential to create something bigger and simpler. And so the idea for Instagram was born.
At a start-up event in March 2010, Systrom showed a prototype to two venture capitalists from Baseline Veinures and Andreessen Horowitz. Afterwards, they met again to discuss the prototype, and two weeks later Systrom secured $500,000 in funding to assemble a team and further develop the project.
This is how Mike Krieger joined the team Systrom had created. He was an old acquaintance of Systrom's from Stanford University. These two engineers re-evaluated Burbn and concluded that the application was too similar to Foursquare. The latter was a mobile application famous at the time for location search and discovery. It was then that Systrom and Krieger decided to rework Burbn into an application dedicated exclusively to photo sharing, with rating and commenting functions. It was then that the application was renamed Instagram, a combination of the words "instant" and "telegram".
When was Instagram created?
The crucial moment came on October 6, 2010, when Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger officially launched Instagram. The app was available exclusively on iOS in its early days, offering users the chance to share photos with aesthetic filters that instantly transformed images taken with their smartphones. The initial success was phenomenal, with thousands of downloads within the first few hours. Since its creation, Instagram has undergone numerous evolutions and features, becoming one of the most widely used social media applications.
Instagram development milestones
As soon as Instagram was launched as an IOS application. More than 25,000 users created an Instagram account and within a week, the platform recorded more than 100,000 registrations and within a month, this surpassed one million users until reaching more than 10 million active users within a year. As soon as it was launched on the Android operating system in April 2012, the app recorded a spectacular response, registering over a million downloads in less than 24 hours.
Less than two years after its launch, Instagram was acquired by Facebook, Inc. which today has become metaplatforms for around US$1 billion in cash and stock. In November 2012, a limited version of Instagram was made available for web access. Then, the app became available for Microsoft Windows tablets and computers in 2016.
In September 2017, the app faced a massive cyberattack affecting up to 6 million users due to a technical flaw. This attack, aimed at obtaining phone numbers and email addresses. This instagram hack touched a diverse range of personalities, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, singer Beyoncé and professional footballer Neymar.
Today, Instagram has experienced a meteoric rise and it's now possible to do a variety of Instagram activities thanks to the different features on the platform such as stories, real, Instagram shopping, Lives, sponsorship or social ADS and various other features. What's more, if you're an influencer, you'll surely want to know who's following you and watching your content. You'll also be able to see Instagram subscription to find out who's interested in your content.
In short, Instagram's creation date of October 6, 2010 marks the start of an extraordinary journey that has redefined the way we share our life moments and interact with the digital world around us. The innovative concept of sharing photos with aesthetic filters has transformed digital photography into a form of artistic expression accessible to all. Today, Instagram continues to evolve and influence digital culture across the globe, proving that its creation is more than just a date, but rather the starting point of a visual revolution.
