It's Facebook's biggest acquisition ever, in both price and reach. With around 30 million active users, Instagram has the largest audience of any startup Facebook has purchased, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post.
"We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all," Zuckerberg wrote. "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."
The Instagram service was founded two years ago and allows users to share and apply stylized filters to their photos. It has become one of the most downloaded applications on the iPhone, with nearly 30 million daily users and only nine staff members. Until a few weeks ago, Instagram was only available on the iPhone, but it has since expanded into Google’s Android operating system.
He stated that Instagram’s interconnectivity with other online services is also vital to the overall experience. Facebook plans to keep features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to share (or not share) your Instagrams on Facebook and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.
“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. 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,” said Zuckerberg.
“We’re looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we’re going to be able to build together.”
What happens now that Facebook bought instagram?
You don't need to freak out. Instagram will still be the same. Facebook plans to run them like Google ran Youtube after buying it. They plan to grow it independently and then integrate their services with it in the long run.
