On April 6, Facebook’s Chief Executive, Mark Zuckerberg, met with Instagram’s Keith Bedford to purchase his rapidly popular smartphone app for $1 billion in cash and stock. After only 18 months on the market, the app already hosts 30 million users, proving it’s lasting popularity to big-time companies.
Instagram is a photo editing tool that also provides a community of followers with the ability to ‘like’ and share pictures. It combines some of the most popular elements of Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest into a unique app, helping consumers to preserve memories in a visually appealing manner.
By buying the business, Facebook doubled the worth of Instagram, whose value was estimated around $500 million. Zuckerberg aims to use his site as a marketing tool for the company according to an article on The Washington Post.
“… Our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people,” Zuckerberg reiterated the company’s intentions for buying Instagram on his Facebook site according to newmediarockstars.com.
Zuckerbergs plans to approach his recent investment with caution as he believes Instagram contains characteristics which work well alongside his site.
“We believe these are different experiences that complement each other,” Zuckerberg said. “But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram?s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.”
For Abbey Cowan, ’13, Facebook’s purchase has not make an impact yet, however, she will not discourage any changes to the app.
“I’m not too sure what the big deal about Facebook buying Instagram is,” Cowan. “I haven’t noticed any changes, but to me, updates are usually good.”
It was rumored that Zuckerberg felt Facebook was threatened by the quickly expanding Instagram, finding it increasingly necessary to align with their competition as to gain its users in the mobile department. These assumptions were based on a post on his blog.
“This is an important milestone for Facebook because it?s the first time we?ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users,” Zuckerberg said. “We don?t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”
It is highly unlikely that Facebook will change Instagram, as the reason for purchase was simply based on Zuckerberg’s desire to expand the mobile realm.
Ryan Neufeld, ’12, is not concerned about Facebook altering the app, as the photo editing tools summarize his appreciation for Instagram.
“I like how Instagram is right now so hopefully they don’t change anything,” Neufeld said. ” I would say the best part would be the different effects you can use on the pictures. I like how unique and more creative most of them are compared to pictures on Facebook.”
According to an article on mashable.com, the author analyzed the released information to deduct that Facebook plans to work closely with the Instagram staff. Their knowledge of the mobile world will come in handy as Facebook developers begin to look at the possibility of creating their own app market.
With the support of the Instagram staff, they aim to invent a new operating system capable of reaching all brands such as Android beta, Apple iOS, and Windows NT, using Ringmark, a mobile browser test suite. This project would mean app developers would only need to design one app for all phones, saving money and boosting profit.
Though spending $1 billion on a popular, yet still rising app may seem senseless, the young Zuckerberg may have a lot more in mind than meets the eye. Though much of this is speculation, these predictions do not seem far off.
The purchase of Instagram has shown Facebook’s desire to advance with the changing world of technology. Zuckerberg successfully bought out competition while bridging the gap between Facebook and the mobile world.
For more information on technology, read the March 30 article, Game development blossoms in digital age.
