What Is Instagram?

Instagram definition

Instagram is a free American photo and video-sharing social networking platform created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and later owned by Facebook, Inc. In fact, the term “Instagram” is an amalgam of “instant photo” and “telegram”.

This app allows users to upload and edit photos as well as short videos through their mobile phones. Just like with other social networking platforms, Instagram users can comment, like and bookmark other people’s photos as well as send private messages to their friends via the Instagram Direct feature.

How Instagram works

What makes Instagram different is that users can add a caption to each of their posts and use hashtags that are location-based geotags to docket these posts and make them more visible and searchable by other users within the app.

Each post appears on the Instagram feed and is viewable by the people that follow that specific account. If hashtags are added in the caption of the picture, then the people that can reach out is considerably larger. Giving the nature of Instagram and the privacy service it offers, a user may or may not select the option whether to set their profile Private or Public.

Instagram for businesses

Instagram represents a great tool not only for individuals but for businesses too. It offers companies the opportunity to promote their services and boost their engagement, therefore attracting potential customers.

According to Instagram’s website, more than 1 million advertisers make use of this platform by sharing their stories and achieve exceptional business results.

Instagram provides a wide range of editing tools and digital filters that can be applied to the pictures directly within the app. Being inspired by the popular social media app, Snapchat, Instagram introduced a feature called Stories, where users can share short videos and photos which are only visible to the audience for a 24 hours period of time.

These stories include the ability to embody augmented-reality based face filters and stickers, as well as the ability to add text, drawings, gifs, and emojis. Some filters may even change one’s voice. In April 2017, Instagram beat its biggest rival, Snapchat, by surpassing its users which had an estimated number of 200 million active users.

Other Instagram features

In June 2018, Instagram launched the so-called IGTV which is a feature that allows ordinary users to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length, while those who are Instagram verified can upload videos of 60 minutes length.

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