(Image source:  Wikimedia Commons )

 

BY NIELS SCHACK NORGAARD

 

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN 

 

Facebook shells over a billion dollars for Instagram. Now, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is assuring Instagram users -- no big changes are coming.


Zuck writes on the Facebook blog…

 

“We need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook. That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.”

It’s hard to imagine that’s possible. Instagram went from 1 million users in January 2011 to 30 million users now.


A Bloomberg business analyst says the acquisition makes sense now that Facebook is going public.

 

“People have shown they want to do more with their pictures and clearly Facebook is putting a priority on making that happen whether or not a billion dollar price tag is outrageous.”

 

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom also says, not much will change, despite the billion-dollar investment.

 

“The Instagram app will still be the same you know and love. You’ll still have all the same people you follow and that follow you. You’ll still be able to share to other social networks. And you’ll still have all the other features that make the app so fun and unique.”

 

And a writer for GigaOM writes -- the reasoning behind Facebook’s purchase of Instagram is simple. They were scared.

 

“Facebook …  knew that for first time in its life it arguably had a competitor that could not only eat its lunch, but also destroy its future prospects. Why? Because Facebook is essentially about photos, and Instagram had found and attacked Facebook’s achilles heel — mobile photo sharing.”

 

San Francisco based Instagram is operating with only 13 employees. Last week, the company released an app for Android devices which racked up more than 1 million users in just 12 hours.