Jump to content

Timeline of Instagram

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Timeline

[edit]
Year Month and date Event type Details
2009 October 21 Product Kevin Systrom starts working on the project with the name Burbn.[1]
2010 March 5 Funding Systrom closes a US$500,000 seed funding round with Baseline Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz while working on Burbn.[2]
2010 May 19 Team Mike Krieger joins the Burbn project[3]
2010 October 6 Product Burbn is rebranded to its current name Instagram (from Systrom and Krieger) with the aim of facilitating communication through images.[4] Over 25,000 users registered on launch day, and over 100,000 in a week since launch.[5][6]
2010 December 12 Growth Instagram surpasses 1 million registrations.[7]
2011 January Product Instagram adds hashtags to help users discover both photographs and each other.[8] Instagram encourages users to make tags both specific and relevant, rather than tagging generic words like "photo", to make photographs stand out and to attract like-minded Instagram users.[9]
2011 February 2 Funding Instagram has raised US$7 million in Series A funding from a variety of investors, including Benchmark Capital, Jack Dorsey, Chris Sacca (through Capital fund), and Adam D'Angelo.[10] The deal values Instagram at around $25 million.[11]
2011 June Growth Instagram hits 5 million monthly active users.[12]
2011 September Growth Instagram hits 10 million monthly active users.[12]
2011 September Product Version 2.0 of Instagram goes live in the App Store (iOS) and included new and live filters, instant tilt–shift, high resolution photographs, optional borders, one-click rotation, and an updated icon.[13]
2012 April 3 Product Instagram is released for the Android operating system with support starting at version 2.2 "Froyo",[14] and it is downloaded more than one million times in less than one day.[15]
2012 April 5 Funding Instagram raises US$50 million from venture capitalists for a share of the company; the process values Instagram at US$500 million.[11][16]
2012 April 9 Acquisitions Facebook acquires Instagram for approximately US$1 billion in cash and stock.[17][18]
2012 April 30 Growth Instagram hits 50 million monthly active users.[12]
2012 June Competition Vine (service), a short-form video sharing service, launches. It was acquired by Twitter in October that year.[19]
2012 December 17 Product Instagram updates its Terms of Service, granting itself the right – starting on January 16, 2013 – to sell users' photos to third parties without notification or compensation.[20][21]
2013 February Growth Instagram hits 100 million monthly active users.[12]
2013 May Product Instagram introduces photo tagging and "Photos of You," a new tab on a user's profile listing every picture he or she is tagged in.[22]
2013 June 13 Product Instagram launches video sharing.[23]
2013 July Product Instagram makes it easier to share posts by adding links to embed photos and videos.[22][24]
2013 September Growth Instagram hits 150 million monthly active users.[12]
2013 October Controversy Instagram deletes the account of Canadian photographer Petra Collins after Collins posted a photo of herself in which pubic hair was visible beneath her bikini bottom.[25] Collins claims the account deletion was unfounded because it did not break any of Instagram's terms and conditions.[26]
2013 November Controversy Instagram acts in response to a 2013 investigation from the BBC regarding the role of Instagram in sales of illicit drugs. The BBC had discovered that users, mostly located in the US, were posting images of drugs they were selling and then completing transactions via instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp Messenger. Corresponding hashtags are blocked as part of the company's response.[27]
2013 November Product Instagram introduces sponsored post advertising targeting US users.[28][29]
2013 December Team Snapchat announces that it will poach Emily White, director of business operations of Instagram. Emily White will move to Snapchat in January.[30]
2013 December 12 Product Instagram adds Direct, a feature that allows users to send photos to specific people directly from the app. Instagram's primary intention with the Direct feature is to compete against messaging services, including Snapchat.[31][32]
2014 March Growth Instagram hits 200 million monthly active users.[12]
2014 June Product Instagram launches new series of editing tools – allowing users to minutely customize image characteristics like brightness, contrast, highlights, and shadows.[33]
2014 August Team The company's Global Head of Business and Brand Development – a new position for Instagram – is announced. Facebook's former Regional Director James Quarles was assigned the role.[34]
2014 August 21 Product Instagram makes itself more advertising-friendly by introducing a suite of business tools aimed at brands which offer insights and analytics related to their use of the image-sharing network.[35]
2014 December Growth Instagram hits 300 million monthly active users.[36]
2015 January Controversy In a similar incident to Collins's, Instagram deletes Australian Photography and Fashion Agency Sticks and Stones Agency's Instagram account because of a photograph including pubic hair sticking out of bikini bottoms.[37]
2015 June Product Instagram bolsters up its advertising capabilities, testing ad formats that prompt users to do things such as installing an app, signing up for an email newsletter, or link to a retailer's site to purchase a product.[38]
2015 June Product Desktop website redesigned to look consistent with the mobile web site and app.
2015 September 9 Product Instagram allows 30-second ads for all advertisers – twice the 15-second limit given for users.[39]
2015 September International Instagram ads go global.[40]
2015 September Growth Instagram hits 400 million monthly active users.[36]
2015 October Product Instagram launches Boomerang,[41] an app where the user shoots a one-second burst of five photos that is turned into a silent video that plays forwards and then reverses in a loop.[42]
2015 November 17 Product Instagram kills off support from feed-reading applications.[43]
2016 February Product Instagram starts enabling users to easily switch between multiple accounts.[44]
2016 February 11 Product View counter added to videos. Views were counted since November 19th, 2015, meaning videos posted prior to that date lack the view count data.[45][46]
2016 March Controversy Tech blogger Jad Ismail claims he has discovered over one million porn films on Instagram.[47]
2016 March 15 Product Instagram switches its feed from chronological to algorithmically-driven best posts first.[48]
2016 May 11 Product Instagram introduces a new look as well as an updated icon and app design for Instagram. Inspired by the previous app icon, the new icon represents a simpler camera and the rainbow lives on in gradient form.[49]
2016 May Product Instagram announces that it will launch new business tools – including analytics that allow users to see audience demographics, post impressions, and reach.[50][51]
2016 June Growth Instagram announces that it has over 500 million monthly active users.[12]
2016 June Product Instagram announces instant translation feature.[52]
2016 June Product API restrictions such as shutdown of feeds and restricted access to "followers"/"following" lists, and naming restriction for third-party applications to prohibit the text strings "insta" and "gram". The earliest announcements of these date back to November 2015.[53]
2016 July Product Instagram announces that it will start allowing users to filter out comment streams – giving users the choice about which comments are acceptable or not for themselves. It also starts allowing users the opportunity to entirely turn off comments.[54]
2016 August 2 Product Instagram launches Instagram Stories. The product works like Snapchat Stories: users can post 24-hour ephemeral photo and video slideshows that disappear.[55] Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom openly admits that the feature is copied from Snapchat, based on the success of Snapchat stories.[56] The feature is viewed as part of Instagram's goal of attracting users away from Snapchat.[57]
2016 August Product Instagram brings in Image Zoom, allowing users to zoom into images.[58]
2016 September Product Instagram removes the Photo Maps feature from its mobile apps, claiming that the feature was not widely used on the platform.[59]
2016 October 13 Product Instagram launches a desktop client for the first time on the Windows 10 platform, which can be downloaded via the Windows Store.
2016 November 21 Product Instagram launches live video, which allows users to broadcast live on Instagram, for up to one hour. Live videos on Instagram are not preserved, and are removed from the service once a user is done broadcasting. Instagram also launches disappearing photos and videos for the Instagram Direct feature on the same day, and images and videos sent using this method disappear after a certain amount of time.[60][61]
2016 December 6 Product Ability to mark comments as liked (initially on mobile apps only)[62]
2016 December 15 Growth Instagram announces that it has over 600 million monthly active users.[63]
2017 February 22 Product Instagram launches a feature allowing users to post multiple photos in one post, in a slideshow-like fashion.[64]
2017 May 4 Product Ability to upload pictures from mobile website introduced, but not yet videos.[65][66]
2017 June 13 Product Archive posts on profile. Allowing users to not permanently delete posts but with the archive feature remove or reintroduce posts later without losing likes and comments. [67]
2017 August 15 Product Threaded comments introduced. Previously, comments under posts were chronological, linear, and not structured, where responding to a user was only done through "@username" mentioning.[68]
2017 September Competition TikTok, a short video sharing service and social media service, launches.[69]
2017 December 12 Product Ability to follow hashtags in addition to users[70]
2018 April 25th Product Data portability export options, allowing users to download an archive of their account data, as mandated by the General Data Protection Regulations.[71]
2018 May 22 Product Instagram introduces the new "mute" feature that allows users to hide posts from certain users on their feed without unfollowing the account.https://theinstanderapp.com/
2018 June 20 Product Instagram announces the launch of IGTV, a video platform intended to compete against YouTube. Users will now be able to upload videos of up to 10 minutes, while creators and accounts with larger audiences can upload videos of up to one hour. IGTV will have a dedicated button in the Instagram app, in addition to a standalone app released that same day.[72]
2018 June Growth Instagram announces that it has over 1 billion monthly active users.[73]
2019 May 19 Product Instagram announces "Shops" allowing for a virtual storefront on the app where users can buy and sell things completely within the app.[74]
2019 October Product Instagram removes the "Following" activity tab where users could see what the other users they were following would like, comment on and other such activities.
2020 May Product Instagram launches new "Guides" feature enables users to engage with wellness-focused creators to take part in mental health discussion.[75]
2021 October Product Instagram drops the IGTV tab and revamps its video format.[76]
2021 November Product Instagram adds option to remove single photos from carousels.[77]
2021 December Growth Instagram reaches over 2 billion monthly active users.[73]
2023 January Product In addition to the Story Highlights feature, Instagram is also introducing a new feature called "Live Story Replay." This allows users to save their live stories and watch them again at a later time, as well as share them with others.[78]
2023 February Product Meta announces paid verification on Instagram through a subscription service called Meta Verified. It originally launched in Australia and New Zealand to test the feature.[79]
2023 March Product Meta Verified is now available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.[80] There is a waiting list for other countries.
2023 June Product Meta Verified is now available in India.[81]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Well hello there good lookin', @burbn Twitter account, October 21, 2009
  2. ^ Siegler, MG (March 5, 2010). "Burbn's Funding Goes Down Smooth. Baseline, Andreessen Back Stealthy Location Startup". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  3. ^ Very excited to welcome @mikeyk to the Burbn team!, @burbn Twitter account, May 19, 2010
  4. ^ "Instagram Launches With The Hope Of Igniting Communication Through Images". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  5. ^ "iPhone Photo App Instagram Nabs 100K Users in One Week". Mashable.com. October 14, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  6. ^ Zeen, Anna (October 1, 2020). "Who Owns Instagram". zeen. Retrieved October 29, 2021. Surprisingly, Instagram racked up 25000 users on the day of its launch. It soon grew up with one million users within 3 months, which made investors turn up to this app.
  7. ^ "The Complete History of Instagram (infographic)". Wersm.com. January 3, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  8. ^ "Introducing Hashtags on Instagram". Instagram Blog. Facebook. January 27, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  9. ^ "Instagram Tips: Using Hashtags". Instagram Blog. Facebook. February 16, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  10. ^ Siegler, MG (February 2, 2011). "Instagram Filters Through Suitors To Capture $7 Million In Funding Led By Benchmark". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  11. ^ a b Primack, Dan (April 9, 2012). "Did Facebook panic?". CNNMoney.com. CNN. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Josh Constine (June 21, 2016). "Instagram doubles monthly users to 500M in 2 years, sees 300M daily". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  13. ^ "Introducing Instagram v2.0". Instagram Blog. Facebook. September 20, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  14. ^ Honan, Mat; Rose, Brent (April 3, 2012). "Instagram for android arrives". Gizmodo. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  15. ^ Blagdon, Jeff (April 4, 2012). "Instagram for Android breaks 1 million downloads in less than a day". The Verge. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  16. ^ "Right Before Acquisition, Instagram Closed $50M At A $500M Valuation From Sequoia, Thrive, Greylock And Benchmark". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  17. ^ Primack, Dan (April 9, 2012). "Breaking: Facebook buying Instagram for $1 billion". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  18. ^ "Facebook to Acquire Instagram". Facebook Newsroom. Facebook. April 9, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  19. ^ Fried, Ina (October 9, 2012). "Twitter Buys Vine, a Video Clip Company That Never Launched". AllThingsD. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  20. ^ "Instagram wants right to sell users' photos to advertisers". BBC. December 18, 2012.
  21. ^ Lynley, Matthew (July 29, 2013). "Why the Web Is Freaking Out Over Instagram's New Terms of Service - Digits". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  22. ^ a b "The History of Instagram". Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  23. ^ "Instagram Launches 15-Second Video Sharing Feature, With 13 Filters And Editing". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  24. ^ Gupta, Shilpa (August 19, 2020). "Raise your audience /brand awareness posting links to Instagram". Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  25. ^ "Petra's pubic post deemed too personal for public consumption, Instagram deletes account". news.com.au. October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  26. ^ Stoeffel, Kat (October 17, 2013). "Instagram Censors Artistic Bush". The Cut. New York Magazine. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  27. ^ David Batty (November 8, 2013). "Instagram acts after BBC finds site users are advertising illegal drugs". The Guardian. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  28. ^ Rusli, Evelyn M. (September 8, 2013). "Instagram Pictures Itself Making Money". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  29. ^ Crabbe, Lauren (November 1, 2013). "Fashion designer brand Michael Kors becomes the first to run ads on Instagram". The Next Web. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  30. ^ Rusli, Evelyn M. (December 4, 2013). "Snapchat Snags Instagram Exec - Digits". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  31. ^ Tsukayama, Hayley (March 25, 2011). "Instagram adding ads boosts Facebook's outlook, analysts say – The Washington Post". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  32. ^ Frier, Sarah (December 12, 2013). "Facebook's Instagram Adds Private Messaging for Users". Businessweek. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  33. ^ "Instagram Goes Beyond Its Gauzy Filters". The New York Times. June 3, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  34. ^ Kurt Wagner (August 13, 2014). "Instagram Hires New Ad Chief". recode. Revere Digital LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  35. ^ "Instagram Starts Offering Essential Ad Tools At Last". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  36. ^ a b "Instagram Keeps on Getting Bigger". Time. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  37. ^ "Did Instagram Ban This Account Because Of A Photo Showing Women's Pubic Hair?". The Huffington Post UK. January 21, 2015.
  38. ^ Marshall, Jack (June 2, 2015). "Instagram Bolsters Ad Offerings - CMO Today". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  39. ^ "Instagram Has Arrived As A Haven For Ad Dollars, Thanks To Global Ad Roll-out & New Ad Options". Marketingland.com. September 9, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  40. ^ "Instagram Ads Go Global, Including New 30-Second Commercials". Https. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  41. ^ "Introducing Boomerang from Instagram". Instagram. Instagram. October 22, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  42. ^ Constine, Josh. "Instagram's New Standalone App Boomerang Captures 1-Second Video Loops". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  43. ^ "Instagram Kills Off Feed Reading Apps". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  44. ^ "Instagram Finally Makes It Easy To Use Multiple Accounts". Https. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  45. ^ Welch, Chris (February 11, 2016). "Instagram now shows how many times your videos have been viewed". The Verge. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  46. ^ "What is Considered a View on an Instagram Video?". Follows.com. June 7, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2021. Any video that was published before November 19, 2015 will not have a view count on it.
  47. ^ "Instagram porn hidden under Arabic hashtags". UltGate. March 18, 2016.
  48. ^ Josh Constine (March 15, 2016). "Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  49. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 11, 2016). "Instagram launches redesigned app and icon". The Verge. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  50. ^ "Instagram's analytics will offer audience demographics, post impressions, reach & more". Https. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  51. ^ "Coming Soon: New Instagram Business Tools - Instagram for Business". Blog.business.instagram.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  52. ^ "Instagram Is Getting An Instant Translation Feature". Time. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  53. ^ "Instagram Kills Off Feed Reading Apps". TechCrunch. November 17, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  54. ^ "Instagram will soon let you filter comments on your own account". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  55. ^ Constine, Josh (August 2, 2016). "Instagram launches "Stories," a Snapchatty feature for imperfect sharing". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  56. ^ Constine, Josh (August 2, 2016). "Instagram CEO on Stories: Snapchat deserves all the credit". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  57. ^ Isaac, Mike (August 2, 2016). "Instagram Takes a Page From Snapchat, and Takes Aim at It, Too". New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  58. ^ Olivarez-Giles, Nathan (August 31, 2016). "Instagram Finally Brings Image Zoom to Apps, But It's a Letdown". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  59. ^ Newton, Casey (September 6, 2016). "Instagram is getting rid of photo maps". The Verge. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  60. ^ "New Ways to Share in the Moment". Instagram Blog. November 21, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  61. ^ "How do I share a live video on Instagram?". Instagram Help Center. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  62. ^ "Instagram fights abuse with comment disabling and liking". Tech Crunch.
  63. ^ Fitz Tepper (December 15, 2016). "Instagram surges past 600M users, fueled by algorithmic feed". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  64. ^ "How to post multiple photos in Instagram". The Telegraph. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  65. ^ Zoll, Keiko (May 10, 2017). "Here's How To Use The New Instagram Mobile Website". Romper.
  66. ^ "You Can Now Upload Photos to Instagram Without the Mobile App". Later Blog. May 4, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  67. ^ "Introducing Archive for Profile | Instagram Blog".
  68. ^ "Introducing Comment Threads on Instagram Posts | Instagram Blog". about.instagram.com. August 15, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  69. ^ Statt, Nick (November 4, 2019). "TikTok's global social media takeover is starting to slow down". The Verge. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  70. ^ Instagram gets more #interesting – The social network now lets you follow hashtags –The Verge, Dec. 12, 2017
  71. ^ Varmazis, Maria (April 26, 2018). "Know what Instagram knows – here's how you download your data". Naked Security. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  72. ^ "Instagram launches IGTV app for creators, 1-hour video uploads". TechCrunch. June 20, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  73. ^ a b Rodriguez, Salvador. "Instagram surpasses 2 billion monthly users while powering through a year of turmoil". CNBC. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  74. ^ "Introducing Shops on Instagram: A New Online Shopping Experience". Instagram for Business. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  75. ^ "Supporting Well-being with Guides on Instagram | Instagram Blog". about.instagram.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  76. ^ Perez, Sarah (October 5, 2021). "Instagram ditches the IGTV brand, combines everything but Reels into an 'Instagram Video' format". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  77. ^ Golob, Leah (November 18, 2021). "Instagram introduces the option to delete single photos from carousels". Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  78. ^ 1a1i7 (January 9, 2023). "New Instagram Features In 2023 - IG SHORTIE". IG Shortie. Retrieved January 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  79. ^ "Instagram and Facebook launch new paid verification service, Meta Verified". opb. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  80. ^ "Meta Verified | Get a Verified Blue Check on Instagram, Facebook | Meta". Meta Verified | Get a Verified Blue Check on Instagram, Facebook. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  81. ^ Perez, Sarah (June 7, 2023). "Meta Verified arrives in India, now honors 'legacy' verified badges". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 8, 2023.