In October of 2010, a new social media platform had its debut. Instagram came out of the gate with some minor success and boosted its number of users to around 80 million within two years.
In 2012, the platform was bought by Facebook for around one billion US dollars. Since then, Instagram has been growing steadily and changing social media in a positive way. With hundreds of millions of posts each week, almost a billion active monthly users, and a reach unlike any other, the platform has made quite the impact on the web. Here are five ways Instagram has changed social media.
1. The Rush for Followers
Followers are the life-blood of any successful social media account. Without them, you don’t have anyone to create content for, and if you’re a business, you’re losing out on potential customers. The rush for followers has created many shortcuts for boosting accounts, including the ability to buy real active Instagram followers. If you’re looking for a quick boost to your Instagram page, increasing Instagram followers is the way to go.
Instagram as a platform has worked hard to reduce the number of fake followers on the platform, which only serves to make the entire app better for everyone that uses it. The number of scam services for buying likes and followers has been reduced, so if you’re looking to do either, just be sure to do some research on the service you choose to use first.
2. Beauty Standards
Beauty standards have changed drastically in the last few decades. Where once a size zero (or less) was the desirable standard for weight, plus-size is now in style and booming. Where a perfect face with flawless features was once the standard, fashion, beauty, and other industries are adopting new standards to appeal to people from all walks of life; and you can thank Instagram for some of those changes.
Instagram is an excellent platform to post your personal style and beauty and feel welcomed among your peers. The unrealistic beauty standards that once existed are slowly evolving as models of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds have taken to the popular social media platform to voice their own opinion on those standards.
No longer do traditional media outlets like beauty magazines have the final say in what beauty should look like. With millions of users on the platform, there is no shortage of influencers working hard to make women (and men) from all over the world feel accepted and loved for who they are.
3. A Platform For Activism
With so many people on one platform, it was no surprise that activist accounts started to pop up on Instagram. The platform doesn’t work to forcibly censor activism (unless the account violates the terms of service) and sharing activist images and materials is now easier than ever. With hashtags, it’s easier to find the causes you’re passionate about and follow their pages.
According to ViralRace, new audiences are discovering causes they never would have thought to be interested in, extending the overall reach and influence that these activist accounts have. As far as activism goes, Instagram is behind good causes and provides one of the best platforms on the web for spreading the message.
Instagram can link with other websites, social media accounts, and pages, so there’s no shortage of opportunity for the message to carry to as many people as possible.
4. Influencers
While influencers aren’t an Instagram-only phenomenon, they’ve certainly changed the way influencers behave and the impact they have on advertising. Influencers on Instagram have quite a bit of pull with their followers, and brands have learned to use this trust between content creators and followers to boost their sales and increase their reputation.
Followers trust their influencers to provide them with non-biased, accurate information on new products and services from brands all over the world, and brands are happy to pay for such endorsements. Some of Instagram’s top influencers can bring in millions of dollars for advertising and endorsing certain products, so it’s quite a lucrative business.
If you’re looking for a way to boost your own product or brand, choosing an Instagram influencer may just be the best thing you do for your business this year. Never underestimate the power of someone who potential customers trust to sell your products!
5. Traveling Will Never Be The Same
What better way to decide on where to travel than by looking up images on Instagram from people who’ve already been there? Instagram is famous for its amazing photos from both amateur and professional photographers alike. Many people now use Instagram as a sort of “looking glass” to decide where they’d like to travel.
The guesswork has been removed, and you can now see some of the most beautiful spots in the world in all of their glory. People share travel plans, experiences, and their favorite spots for the entire world to see, so you can get a complete picture of what your travel plans might be like before you ever spend a dime on plane tickets, hotels, or food costs. Speaking of food, you can even get a good look at the types of foods available in the region beforehand!
Tourism companies are catching on to this incredible trend, and are now utilizing Instagram as one of their main avenues of advertising travel packages. With so many people on the platform at any given time, it only makes sense that such an industry would take advantage of such an opportunity.
The Bottom Line
Instagram has evolved since its early days, changing the way social media operates and how the world at large views such things as beauty standards and travel.
With an ever-expanding reach, a massive user base, and the popularity to back it up, the simple yet powerful social media platform will likely continue to evolve and grow as the years go by. Here’s to another decade filled with awesome photos and content from some of the world’s top influencers!
