Mike Isaac

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Instagram Surpasses 100 Million Active Users

After nearly two and a half years on the market, Instagram has surpassed the 100 million active user mark.

The milestone comes just over a month after Instagram began releasing its active user numbers for the first time, in the wake of widespread rumors that the service was bleeding users. (Those reports stemmed from Instagram’s short kerfuffle over its Terms of Service changes.)

It’s also an impressive growth rate when compared to Instagram’s closest competitor, Twitter. The microblogging service hit the 200 million user mark at the end of last year, though that’s over a six-year time span. Instagram has managed to gain ground at a much faster rate.

“It’s easy to see this as an accomplishment for a company, but I think the truth is that it’s an accomplishment for our community,” said CEO Kevin Systrom in the company’s blog post. “Now, more than ever, people are capturing the world in real-time using Instagram—sharing images from the farthest corners of the globe. What we see as a result is a world more connected and understood through photographs.”

That’s important, considering both platforms seem to be competing for the same space: Consumer interests. Twitter has long dominated the “interest graph,” or the measure of all things people are interested in at individual and interpersonal levels.

But as seen during the past few major events like the Grammys, the Oscars and the like, Instagram is making a serious bid to represent the pulse of a given moment in time, as documented through photos.

Twitter isn’t taking it sitting down. The company has revamped its discover tab and main stream to more heavily emphasize photography and videos. And Twitter’s cards initiative still remains a top priority for sharing previewed content within tweets themselves.

Still, Instagram’s rapid growth curve must give Twitter concern, and perhaps a hint of regret, ever since losing out to Facebook on buying the photo sharing service.

Now, after Facebook spent three quarters of a billion dollars on the app, all Instagram needs to do is monetize. We’re waiting, Mr. Systrom.

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First the NSA came for, well, jeez pretty much everybody’s data at this point, and I said nothing because wait how does this joke work

— Parker Higgins via Twitter