Social Media Wins: Instagram and Pinterest

Facebook purchased the photo-editing application, Instagram, for one billion dollars earlier this week. Instagram is a photo-sharing tool that allows users to add filters to their photographs without an in-depth knowledge of photo-editing software. Instagram allows every-day photographs to be edited into works of art. It allows the general computer user to create works of art with simple photographs without knowledge or ownership of photo editing tools, such as Adobe Photoshop.

I remember the first time (circa October of 2011) that I saw a photo edited and shared by one of my friends on Facebook using Instagram. The photograph stood out because it looked artistic (with a fashionable old-style saturated filter and clouded edges), and I left a comment on how great I thought the photograph was and asked how the user managed to capture it. It was then that I was told of the Apple app.

With the news this week, I decided to look into how users have reacted. The feedback on Twitter was mainly neutral, with 52% not that bothered. Thirty-five percent were negative about Facebook purchasing Instagram (1). However, the buy-out and recent launch of the Android app prompted many more users to download the software, and there are currently 40 million users signed up with Instagram (2).

With the acquisition of Instagram, I am surprised that Facebook have yet to try to do the same with Pinterest, an increasingly-popular web tool that allows users to 'pin' and store several images from websites to refer to later, with the images arranged in a grid layout on the website. (Pinterest's users can connect to the application via Facebook, and I've read about the demographics of the users of this website mainly being middle-aged females with some college education and low-to-middle income. In fact, 80% of its U.S. users are female, and over half of the users are above 35 years of age (3). Apparently, the demographics of this website are different in the U.K., with more male users and higher wage-earners (4).) 

I, and many other bloggers, enjoy using Pinterest as it allows us to quickly view a series of photographs arranged by different categories. It's easy to browse these images, scattered across the interface, and to click to view the larger image and the source of the image. It helps that there's already a user-base established to share these images with. (Recipes, crafts, beauty, fashion, and photographs are all important and popular categories.)

In addition to the popularity among general users, I have noticed that some companies have been advertising their products on Pinterest for a while. Social media websites and products are definitely making some leaps and bounds in profitable business ventures as of late, and there's no doubt in my mind that Pinterest will continue to grow in popularity and obtain space for companies and brands to sell their products through this platform and imagery.

1) Bennett, Shea. Facebook's Instagram Purchase Given A 12% Approval Rating By Twitter [Study].

2) Rue, Liu, Instagram Hits 40 Million Users after Facebook Deal. http://www.slashgear.com/instagram-hits-40-million-users-after-facebook-deal-13222832/ [2012, April 13]. 

3) Ledbetter, Erin. Pinterest Demographic Data. http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-networks/pinterest-demographic-data/ [2012, 24 January].

4) Komarketing Associates. Pinterest demographics different in U.K. http://www.komarketingassociates.com/industry-news/pinterest-demographics-different-in-u-k-904/ [2012, April 3].