Cyberculture/Social Media/Instagram

History

• October 6, 2010: Instagram is launched.
• December 12, 2010: Instagram has 1 million users.
• March 21, 2011: First worldwide instameet
• August 3, 2011: 150 millionth photo uploaded.
• September 20, 2011: Introducing version 2.0 with four new filters.
• September 26, 2011: 10 million users!
• November 21, 2011: The launch of weekend hashtag project #WHP.
• April 3, 2012: Instagram launches on android too.
• April 9, 2012: Facebook buys Instagram.
• June 28, 2012: Instagram designs photo pages for the web.
• July 26, 2012: Instagram has 80 million users!
• December 11, 2012: Version 3.2 with a new filter.
• December 21, 2012: Version 3.4.1 brings 25 languages in.
• May 2, 2013: Tag photos on Instagram.
• June 20, 2013: Introducing videos on Instagram.

Scope of Research

Social media has diffused the ideas of self and public today, to an unprecedented degree (Meadowcroft 75). Unity of time, space and action has been perpetually distorted (Meadowcraft 78). While there lies an unrelenting caveat in Micah Meadowcroft’s words, our literature review has predominantly surveyed the less wary notions of Instagram, as a blooming seat of activism, discourse and broader public engagement. Amidst the Ukrainian revolution of 2014, Sadof writes how Instagram was not only an essential tool for the diverse advocates of democracy but also key in democratizing virtual space, rendering users at the helm of first person journalism (249). Research in Australia is yet more compelling. A recent trend of Instagrammers capturing myriad urban banalities perhaps reeks of more than just quirky hobbies. Hicks propounds this newfound obsession of many Australians as a unique private activism, a mediated uncanny to revoke a keen sense of nostalgia.  Not so long ago, Vice covered a cogent story of activism on Instagram. It argued that the virtue and power of imagery “against a gigantic block of text” (read Twitter) cannot go unnoticed. Instagram is the free bastion of the individual, not a brand, empowering movements and ideas across boundaries (Rose).

Popularity

Instagram has become the primary social media platform for celebrities to share a glimpse of their private life with their fans. Leading the pack is Cristiano Ronaldo who is the most followed celebrity on Instagram.