Instagram Overtakes Twitter With 300 Million Users

Facebook’s $1 billion image app software acquisition is four years old, pretty full of itself, and stuffed with some 300 million users.

The social media company bought Instagram back in 2012.

Instagram, like us all, is concerned that people cannot tell whether someone who claims to be a celebrity actually has that status, and is doing something that solves this problem.

“We’re proud to announce that there are now more than 300 million Instagrammers,” writes Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s chief executive (CEO), in a blog post.

“Over the past four years, what began as two friends with a dream has grown into a global community that shares more than 70 million photos and videos each day.

“Today, we’re excited to announce verified badges for celebrities, athletes, and brands, making it easier for you to connect with the authentic accounts you’re looking for. These badges will start rolling out over the coming days.”

While this is happening, Instagram is kicking other things out, i.e. spammers. Systrom says that the company, which sees some 70 million new pieces of content a day, will delete the spammers’ accounts permanently.

“We’ve been deactivating spammy accounts from Instagram on an ongoing basis to improve your experience,” he adds.

“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.”

A social network deleting an account permanently is one heck of a big deal when you think about it.

This article was originally published on the Inquirer.