The Diffusion of Instagram

The First Instagram post

Kevin Systrom post the first photograph on instagram on Jul 16, 2010, three months before the app launched to the public. Since then, Instagram has racked up 1 billion active users and the post now has 116,040 likes and 42,600 comments. How did Instagram grow from zero to a billion in less than 10 years?

When talking about how he managed to grow the social media platform so fast, Kevin Systrom said

The lesson I’ve learned is that you need to make sure to always cut what doesn’t work, cut the stuff that isn’t popular, and focus on continually improving your product and your focus… 

Companies go through identity crises and they figure themselves out over time, but I think it’s all about keeping what sticks and throwing away what doesn’t.

To demonstrate the diffusion of instagram and the growth of the app, we can look at the diffusion of innovation model

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Stage 1: The Innovators

In 2010, Instagram gains 100,000 users in the first week after Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launch the app. Influencers, such as Jack Dorsey (twitter's co-founder), shared their love of the new app by word of mouth, attracting millions of people to check it out.

Stage 2: Early Adopters

Within 2 months, the application has grown to 1 million users. In June 2011, there are 5 million active users and that number doubles by September of the same year. Facebook buys Instagram for $1 billion in April 2012.

Stage 3: (Majority early & late)

By April 2012, 50 million people have become active users on instagram. This doubles to 100 million by February 2013. In June 2016, Instagram announces they have reached 500 million active users. Refusing to slow down, Instagram doubles this number again over the next three years. The social media platform is now worth an estimated $100 billion. 

Stage 4: Laggards

I am unsure if Instagram has reached this stage yet. It seems as though they are still growing and improving. However, my theory is that once my generation reach the age that our kids start making social media accounts, Instagram will be viewed as Facebook is today, obsolete and mostly used by older people. At this point, the app will have reached the laggard stage.  

In the graphic below, you can see that the active user numbers are continuously growing and have not plateaued or decreased yet. When this happens, the laggard stage will begin.

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Sources:

https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/instagram-stats/

https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/instagram-marketing-strategy/

https://mediakix.com/blog/how-much-is-instagram-worth-market-cap/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Instagram

https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/instagram_2016_icon_before_after.jpg

The Value of Tolerance

The   Values of Free Expression are important ideas that demonstrate the importance of free speech. They values consist of 

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Marketplace of Ideas

Participation in Self-Government

Stable Change

Individual Self-Fulfillment

Check on Governmental Power

Promote Tolerance

Promote Innovation

Protect Dissent

In my opinion, the promotion of tolerance is one of the most significant value because it assists people in living in harmony with others.

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The right of free speech allows us to say what we want without they fear of our government preventing us. However, there are some limitations placed on us by society and our culture that discourage us from say certain words and phrases. These social restrictions vary bases on personal beliefs, location, and upbringing. Due to the variances of social norms, we may feel uncomfortable or unsure around people who say things that we believe should not be said. Usually, we cannot prevent them for saying these things because we believe everyone should have free speech. Our only choice is to learn to tolerate the person and their speech. 

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While we may not agree on which words and phrases should be avoided, we learn to agree to disagree out of respect for the other person's right to their own opinion. This toleration of other's who hold different beliefs than us, carry over into other aspects of our lives. When we accept those who are dissimilar to us, we create a more tolerable, understand, and therefore, peaceful society. 

The Camera Phone

First picture taken with a camera phone source

History

The first camera phone was created in 1997 by Philippe Khan at the hospital while his wife is in labor with their first daughter. He fused a camera and a phone together and the first picture was sent to about 2,000 family members. Everyone was shocked about the short time between her birth and the picture being sent.



In 1999, Kyocera Visual Phone became the first camera phone to be sold commercially. Originally called a "mobile videophone," it had a 110,000-pixel front-facing camera and was released in Japan first. The United States did not embrace the trend until 2002 when Sprint released the Sanyo SCP-5300. The camera phone's abilities was considerably comprehensive, containing flash, self-timer, zoom, filters and white balance control.

From there, camera phones took off and sales skyrocketed. Sprint, Sony, and Nokia, a leading Finnish manufacturer, released new phones with higher pixel capabilities and more camera features. Sprint's PM8920 had a designated camera button and a multi-shot option to take multiple pictures sequentially. Nokia's N90 featured a 2MP camera with autofocus and an LED flash.

Once the smart phone became popular, the growth of the camera phone was stunted. It was difficult for manufactures to fit the bulky camera into the coveted sleek design of the smartphone. However, in the recent 5-10 years cell phones manufacturers have stepped up their game to include high resolution cameras.

Nowadays, cameraphones are so common and frequently used that it would seem weird to have a phone without a camera and only a few people own regular cameras. Most grandparents, parents, teenagers, and kids use cameras on their phones on a daily basis. I myself have already taken over 25 photos today and its only 10:30am. In today's society, the camera phone invention shapes our personal interactions and how we use social media.

Source: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/camera-phone-history/