Duckfaces and influencers: The evolution of Instagram

‘Sharing is caring’. It could easily be another cheesy Instagram caption, yet it is also exactly what seems to be inspiring society these days. Especially during the summertime the influence of the fourth most-downloaded app ever becomes noticeable when everyone’s timeline gets spammed with slick poses and picture perfect holiday destinations.

How did we get to this point?

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🙅‍♀️ FROM NOT TO HOT

It might be hard to imagine, but now-beloved Instagram was almost called Burbn. In 2010 founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger had the idea to create an app that allowed people to see events near them, check in, and share the experience with other potential attendees through photos. Yet since this app was not the successful life changer that Systrom and Krieger had hoped it would be all sorts of data analytics tests were run, that eventually pointed out the one thing that people did use the app for: sharing photos. The idea of Instagram, instant camera and telegram combined, was born. Pictures of innocent living rooms, pets and duckfaces were soon all over the internet. Little did the creators know that only a few years later they could sell their app to Facebook for a rough 1 billion dollars.

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🤳 BUT FIRST, LET ME TAKE A SELFIE

With the takeover by Facebook, a huge commercialisation of the app was inevitable. Sponsored posts started popping up from every corner, and the idea of social influencers was immediately on the rise. A post on the app was no longer just a post, a post become an entire (staged) production. This became especially evident in vacation pictures, where the awkward vacation group photos made room for the perfectly placed cocktails in front of some heavily-edited blue sea. This Instagram 2.0, as one might call it, divided the app in two groups of people: those that were or wanted to become influencers, and those that watched and imitated influencers. A change that founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom themselves were clearly not so keen on, the duo left the company soon after Facebook took over.

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💁‍♀️ NOW WHAT?

Over the years much research has been done on the topic of Instagram. It has indicated that all of the checking on Instagram definitely has downsides. Loneliness amongst teenagers for one is claimed to have increased significantly ever since the app started gaining popularity, and also people’s general mood and body image seem to be deteriorating. Serious charges. Still a quick look through history also tells us that people are always afraid of the latest inventions. That leaves Instagram in a dark spot. Staying in touch with your friends can be obviously a good thing, especially during the summertime when some people don’t see each other as much. Just be a little more careful about the effects the app might have on you the next time you care to share.

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Written by: Tessa