Systrom and Krieger still run the company today with 800 million users and 500 million active users each day as of 2017 (Instagram Business Team). Two years after Instagram’s launch, the social media giant bought Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock (Fell). The photo-sharing application’s exponential growth in the ever-evolving digital age made Facebook take notice. Within nine months of its launch, the app had 7 million users (1). Although the platform did not have a seamless start, the app has yet to see a downward trend. An astounding 25,000 people signed up for an Instagram account during that time (1). After a night of trouble shooting, Systrom and Krieger got the app back up within 24 hours. Within a couple of hours of Instagram’s launch on Octo(Roberts), the system crashed due to high volume traffic (1). With the new information, the pair reconstructed their app solely around the idea of photo-sharing. Through utilizing the data analytics from the Bourbn prototype testing, they discovered the most prevalently used aspect was photo-sharing (Garber).
![facetune examples facetune examples](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KYbot1VxB84/maxresdefault.jpg)
After realizing the unrealistic complexity of Bourbn, Systrom, the original developer, invited Krieger to simplify the app for easier mainstream use. The Stanford graduate creators, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, modeled Instagram after Bourbn, an overly-complex photo-sharing app with features such as earning points for location check in, posting content, and making future plans (Garber). Instagram began as the evolution of another unpublished app called Bourbn. Users of the app and society at large may be unable to identify credible sources. The intersection of self-esteem, pseudo-relationships, and intense idealization of influencers’ respective lives have serious implications when it comes to discerning if influencers’ opinions are both valid and trustworthy.
![facetune examples facetune examples](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bL2UCA4SthU/maxresdefault.jpg)
As a result, the platform drastically impacts the self-esteem of participating individuals in a world in which humans have become, in a manner of speaking, legal commodities. This phenomenon created an environment in which people now hold an appraisal value based solely on the number of followers they may have. Instagram now possesses the ability to transform people into businesses analogous to the rise of a corporation in the real world. Instagram evolved from a simple interpersonal communicatory photo-sharing application into a platform on which individuals now create their own profitable public facades. Influence on the platform has become a commodity. The ability to turn oneself into a brand has heightened the expectations of how people should look and conduct themselves through the app. It is no surprise that Instagram is a major culprit in the erosion of mental health in younger generations (RSPH 18). Images of perfection are more accessible to all users as they scroll on the app. Instagram is an arena where the concept of desiring perfectionism is exacerbated.
![facetune examples facetune examples](https://ruinmyweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/25-of-the-best-worst-instagram-photo-fails-the-internet-has-to-offer-15.jpg)
Therefore, it is no surprise that influencers attempt to harness the idea of perfectionism to capture brands’ attention. Advertising and perfectionism have gone hand-in-hand for years (Suggett) with the use of celebrities and models to endorse products and services for major brands. In addition to utilizing less-than-honest methods to gain traction on the app, users will also go to painstaking lengths to cultivate an image of perfection (Lieber). Buying followers is a central ethical dilemma that many small bloggers ponder partaking in to get companies’ attention (Lieber).
![facetune examples facetune examples](https://www.saashub.com/images/app/screenshots/5/bf3f69ad3a9b/landing-medium.jpg)
Thus, users with smaller followings have a much more difficult time getting noticed at this moment (Racked). Companies take note and approach more popular pages with large followings for brand deals. Once establishing a strong attractive brand on the saturated platform, users can leverage their large followings for more sponsorships. An influencer is a type of micro celebrity who targets other specific individuals, who exert influence over a large pool of potential customers (Abiden 72). Today, Instagram “influencers” create and perfect their own image for public consumption. Individuals create their “personal brands” through promotion of their own products and/or services or via associating themselves with major brands sponsoring their content. That expansion granted Instagram users the ability to function as extensions of established businesses and even create their own on the app. Through Instagram, the definition of business has expanded. Instagram morphed from a basic photo-sharing application into a fruitful environment for companies and individuals to conduct business.