Instagram is a photo sharing app and social network popular with iPhone users. The app recently also moved to Android, and now it looks like they’ll be moving to Facebook a little more permanently. Facebook announced that they were buying the company for a whopping $1 billion in cash and stock.
Why so much for a company not worth that much on paper? There may be other speculation on the issue, but I’d say this is all about fending off Google. Google+ allowed faster and better photo sharing than Facebook, and Google purchased Picnik to integrate the photo editing features into Google+.
Instagram won’t lose the social networking integration users know and love, at least not immediately, but I have to wonder if the Instagram network may not go the way of Picnik once the purchase is complete.
What say you? Is Facebook’s purchase a win or loss for users?
Yeahhhh, I figured this was a Google+ battle move, too…
I follow (and generally adore) Boing Boing’s Xeni Jardin on Instagram, and her immediate response to the Facebook announcement was to put up a message saying, “See ya later.” I’m not sure that’s a fair response, though. I want to see what changes HAPPEN before I make any decisions–after all, after chunking down that amount of change, it’s in Facebook’s interest to keep Instagram-users happy. Some people were suggesting emigrating to Hipstamatic (I’m sure that with this new Instagram cash-influx, Hipstamatic will get folded into Instagram–they’re already hand-shaking as it is…) or MLKSHK.
I’m gonna sit back and watch before I take off for other services, personally…
And after reading this bit in THE NEW YORKER http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2012/04/instagram-facebook-and-china.html I wonder if this purchase isn’t about getting a foot in the door in Chinese social networking…that billion dollar price tag starts making a lot more sense…