Today, with the increasing use of social media, many applications have stood out. As you may guess, Instagram is one of these applications. It was first presented to the users in 2010, then bought by Meta, in 2012. Year by year, with its increasing number of users, it became one of the most well-known apps, among others. So, why is Instagram so popular, and what are the distinguishing features of it?
This article is to take a closer look at the reasons behind the popularity of Instagram.
Instagram’s Interface
Instagram, basically, as a platform to share photos and videos, separates itself from similar applications with its outstanding visual design. This outstanding design’s highlights can be mainly listed like these:
- Easy to Use: It allows you to navigate easily on the app with sections containing different functions. Additionally, these sections become personalized with your user experience.
- Having an Own Cam: With the provided cam as a section, Instagram offers lots of easily accessible filters and effects to take photos or videos. In addition, to edit the visual content, it also offers lots of tools. You can share the prepared content and create interaction with other users.
Social Interaction on Instagram
In the app, you can connect with the other users you know, which is one of the most frequent reasons why is Instagram so popular. So, it allows you to maintain the interaction you have with your family and friends. It also gives you the opportunity to meet and interact with new people. You can either just make a comment to others’ content, or you can send a direct message.
With the searching section, you can search for the contexts or hashtags to find the similar content you want and if you want to find different people with similar interests, this feature is designed for you. Also, in the direct message section, you can make voice and video calls. This opportunity of Instagram makes the interaction more intimate.
Moreover, it has a feature to share other people’s content as a direct message, with your contacts. Instagram creates a wide social network with these social interaction features that each user can be a part of, and this is an important reason on why is Instagram so popular. In this network, if you wish, you can be an influencer by using the wide interaction possibility.
If you want the opposite and choose to be less visible than become a social media famous, you can use a private account. So, only the users who are following you can see your profile. Also, if you use a private profile, even every user can send you a message, the ones who do not follow you can only send a message as a request, so you cannot learn if they read your message or not.
Opportunity to Use as an Influencer or Brand Owner
The interactions you can get are an opportunity to become an influencer or to introduce the brand you own. Instagram lets you promote the products by using its features. Some of these features are:
- Publishing advertisements: Increasing the number of advertisements means that your account can become more and more In this way, you can have the chance to be an influencer or if you have a brand, you can have a chance to grow it.
- Sponsorships: If you agree with sponsors and you can increase it even more. So, the ones who know the company that sponsored you will also get to know you, and also with the income coming from sponsors, you can make investments to enlarge your profile.
- Instagram’s Advice: Also, to grow your account as an influencer or brand, Instagram has a feature to let you know how to do it successfully. By following that info, you can let your account grow and stand out naturally by the algorithm Instagram is using.
Read this to get information about some Instagram marketing campaigns.
Instagram’s Algorithm and Personalization Feature
Each social media app has its own algorithm, and the one Instagram uses is another reason why is Instagram so popular. With this algorithm, the content shared is included in the interaction and the explore section, you can have the content with the context in which you are interested.
As your usage of Instagram increases, the more personalized your experience is. Thus, not only does your explore section become personalized, but the advertisements in the app you see will also become customized. Even with the reporting feature, you can prevent the content in which you are not interested. This data received from each user shapes the algorithm for which content Instagram will highlight.
Trends And Updates
With the data the algorithm receives, some of the posts interact a lot and become trendy. As another feature of Instagram is, that each user can follow each trend. So, as an Instagram user, you can follow the topics and the content trending in your county and worldwide.
Instagram also has a shopping section which promotes the products which are personalized through the algorithm. So, you can easily buy products that become popular with the interactions of influencers and brands. In addition, with the updates Instagram gets, the trends on the app are keeping up with the changes in the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Instagram become so popular?
2 months after October 2010, when Instagram was launched for the iOS mobile operating system, it reached one million registered users and became popular. One year later, the number of registered users was ten million. In 2023, there are 2.115.000.000 registered users.
Instagram is popular in which age group?
Instagram is frequently used by people between the ages of 18-35 because today, as these people are called, young people do not want to be disconnected from the world. So, Instagram is a key to staying connected to the world for them. Also, as these people are born into a technological age or spend their childhood with technological devices, they are generally more used to being on social media, and generally a popular one, Instagram.
Will Instagram still be mainstream in 10 years?
Yes. If it still gets updates in 10 years, and if it offers different kinds of features like Meta did before with bringing the story-sharing feature, it will have a chance to still be an app so popular.
Amanda Dudley is a lecturer and writer with a Ph.D. in History from Stanford University. After earning her doctorate in 2001, she decided to pursue a fulfilling career in the educational sector. So far, she has made giant strides by working as an essay writer for EssayUSA, where she delivers high-quality academic papers to students who need them.
