Instagram, commonly abbreviated as IG or Insta, is an American photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Facebook. It was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and initially launched on iOS in October 2010. The Android version followed in April 2012, with a desktop interface introduced in November 2012, a Fire OS app in June 2014, and a Windows 10 app in October 2016.
The platform allows users to upload photos and videos, which can be edited with filters and organized using hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with pre-approved followers. Users can browse content by tags and locations and view trending posts. Additionally, users can like photos and follow other users to add their content to a personalized feed.
Initially, Instagram only allowed content to be framed in a square aspect ratio with 640 pixels, matching the display width of the iPhone at the time. In 2015, these restrictions were eased with an increase to 1080 pixels. Over time, Instagram introduced messaging features, the ability to include multiple images or videos in a single post, and a Stories feature, allowing users to post photos and videos to a sequential feed accessible for 24 hours each.
Instagram experienced rapid growth since its launch, reaching one million registered users in two months, 10 million in a year, and surpassing 1 billion as of May 2019. In April 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram for approximately US$1 billion in cash and stock. By October 2015, over 40 billion photos had been uploaded.
Despite its popularity, Instagram has faced criticism for policy and interface changes, allegations of censorship, and issues related to illegal or improper content uploaded by users.
As of July 2020, the most followed person on Instagram is footballer Cristiano Ronaldo with over 233 million followers. Additionally, the most-liked photo on Instagram, a picture of an egg posted by the account @world_record_egg, currently has over 54 million likes. Instagram has become one of the most downloaded mobile apps of the 2010s.