By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
There are more than 300 million users on Instagram, sending more than 70 million pictures and videos every day, the company said Wednesday.
That means the image-sharing network is larger than Twitter, which has 284 million monthly active users, according to the social media site’s most recent statistics.
A blog post Wednesday by Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom announced the new numbers, which also shows that more than 70 percent of users are from outside the United States.
“Instagram is home to creativity in all of its forms, a place where you can find everything from images of the Nile River to the newest look from Herschel Supply or a peek inside the mind of Taylor Swift,” Systrom wrote. “We’re thrilled to watch this community thrive and witness the amazing connections people make over shared passions and journeys.”
Systrom’s post also outlined several new changes for the services.
Like Twitter, Instagram will begin giving out “verified” badges to celebrities and brands so users will no longer have to wonder if they are following the athlete, actor or musician they think they’re following.
In another pursuit for authenticity, Instagram will begin deactivating fake and spammy accounts.
“We’ve been deactivating spammy accounts from Instagram on an ongoing basis to improve your experience,” Systrom noted. “As part of this effort, we will be deleting these accounts forever, so they will no longer be included in follower counts. This means that some of you will see a change in your follower count.”
Four-year-old Instagram was bought by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012.
Facebook’s share of the social media market is astounding, especially when factoring in its many acquisitions and standalone apps. The service has a user base of 1.35 billion – far more than any other service – with 500 million also using Facebook Messenger. Add to that Instagram’s 300 million users and another 600 million users from WhatsApp, bought by Facebook earlier this year.
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