A Decade of Instagram

Let's take a walk down memory lane...

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Launch Day
October 6, 2010

It's 2010. Glee is the hottest show on television, Ke$ha's Tik Tok is the #1 song of the year, flash mobs are happening all around you, and there's a new app in town. It will be years before Instagram becomes "IG" and turns into everyone's favorite social network, but it's live and over 100,000 people will create an account within the first week of launch.

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1 Million Users
December 12, 2010

That's a whole lotta people in just over 2 months! For comparison, it took Twitter roughly 2 years to reach that number.

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#Hashtags
January 27, 2011

Instagram isn't the first platform to use the hashtag. Twitter took a bet on hashtagging way back in 2007 as a solution for categorizing and filtering content. Chris Messina, inventor of the Twitter hashtag, says the original functionality was a simple way to add metadata to your tweets, like where you are or what you're discussing. In 2011, Instagram implements hashtags and so begins #ManCrushMonday, #TransformationTuesday, and (of course) #tbt.

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150 Millionth Photo Uploaded
August 3, 2011

At this point in time, 1.3 million photos are being uploaded daily, and @Janefot's photo of a merry-go-round is the official 150 millionth photo. Or maybe this is just the 150 millionth photo that didn't violate Instagram's code of conduct. We'll never know.

As of August 2020, the number of uploads each day is well over 100 million.

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10 Million Users
September 26, 2011

It's been a mere 355 days since launch and Instagram has already garnered over 10M users. People still aren't sure if this is a new social network or a photo editing tool. College girls are using the app solely to add the Valencia filter to their pumpkin spiced latte pics.

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Android Launch
April 3, 2012

Instagram is released on the Google Play Store and downloaded more than one million times in 24 hours.

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Facebook Acquires Instagram
April 9, 2012

They grow up so fast! After exchanging approximately 1 billion dollars, Facebook is now the proud new owner of IG.

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100 Million Users
February 26, 2013

Not to compare, but this took Facebook 4 and a half years to acheive...

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Introducing Video
June 20, 2013

In an attempt to compete with Twitter's popular video-sharing app Vine (RIP), Instagram rolls out video.

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Direct Messaging
December 12, 2013

Do you even remember life before Instagram DMs? Can you imagine going home for the holidays and not receiving an annual check in from that one guy who used to bully you in high school? "Hey u back in town?" Yep, and we still aren't hanging out.

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Icon & App Design Updates
May 11, 2016

People love a gradient. Instagram reveals a colorful, new app icon while the product interface is almost entirely stripped of color.

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Stories
August 2, 2016

"Who do they think they are? Snapchat?" Yep, but better. After only 8 months, the use of Stories on Instagram alone surpasses Snapchat's daily active user count.

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Multiple Photo Posts
February 22, 2017

Users now have the option to select up to 10 photos. Which is great news for you and all of your married friends who can now share their wedding pics in a single post instead of clogging up your entire newsfeed. Amen.

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1 Billion Users
June 20, 2018

We repeat: 1 billion. That's nearly 13% of all people on earth. Nbd.

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Reels
August 5, 2020

First they went for Vine, then they took down Snapchat, what's in store for TikTok? Only time will tell...

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Made by the team at Air

1stagram is an easy and fast way to view your first Instagram post. Check out our blog for more fun nonsense.