Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In a recent deal, Facebook has acquired the photo-sharing app Instagram for $1bn - a huge investment and one that has drawn much attention from media experts.
A smart move for Facebook?
According to an article on the GigaOM website here, Instagram was Facebook's biggest competitor, a threat that was growing each day as more and more users discovered this addictive and fun app. Instagram thrives where Facebook lacks, in emotive mobile photo-sharing. Instagram (unlike Facebook) is a mobile-thinking company, which succeeded in creating a social sharing experience, and most importantly, a passionate community.
Instagram created an emotional social affinity that Facebook lacks and which it so desperately desires as part of its platform. Facebook is essentially built on photo-sharing and Instagram had found a way to do it better, creating a serious threat. And with 15 million users already, Instagram was growing at a rate guaranteed to make Facebook shake in its boots. The solution: a buyout, no matter the cost.
Let's hope Zuckerburg and Facebook hold on their promises, to maintain the integrity of Instagram and the vision behind its creation; to capture the spirit of emotive human sharing through photographic experience that is essentially mobile.
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