What Is Instagram?
Instagram is a photo sharing social network. In practical terms, it is a visual discovery platform focused on user generated content and with predominantly social media oriented features. Contrary to other social networks, though, Instagram has been designed from the ground up for mobile devices.
Its humble beginnings can be traced back to 2010, when it was launched as a free photo sharing app for iOS devices, followed by Android versions as well as a feature-limited desktop interface two years later.
Much like any other social network, Instagram allows its users to create a profile from where they can upload and share visual media such as photos and short-form videos to other users’ feeds. As you can see, the idea behind Instagram is simple, yet elegant; So much so that Facebook acquired it in 2012 for $1 Billion!
What Can You Find On Instagram?
Instagram is mostly famous because it allows its users to share awesome visual content, and because of that you will be able to find basically any type of content on the platform, which presents great potential for content discovery.
The first thing that you will find on Instagram are your friends, then you will discover that you will be able to find all of your favorite things on Instagram:
-Your favorite brands, your favorite musicians, your favorite actors, your favorite fictional characters, even your favorite food!
That is why Instagram is so popular among active social media users, and that is also the reason why it is so easily monetizable, because it is created towards fostering massive engagement. Brands of all sizes and industries have been able to use Instagram’s model to their advantage, and a new breed of marketers called “Influencers” have been able to make six figure livings thanks to Instagram!
What Can You Do On Instagram?
Instagram allows you to easily upload and share photos and videos, to follow other users, to geotag images with the name of the location where a photo was taken, to connect your Instagram with other social networking accounts, and to use #hashtags to make your content easier to find.
Besides those basic features, Instagram also allows you to use an ‘Explore’ feature that will enable you to find visual content according to popularity, location and your own search criteria. You can apply filters on your posted images to make them more stylized, and you will be also be able to upload 15 second long videos.
You will also be able to directly connect with other users via private messaging.
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