I work as a freelancing photographer and designer. I know just how time consuming it can be for someone with no Photoshop experience to try and edit their photos. Instagram is not only an amazing tool for users to turn an ordinary photo into something beautiful with the touch of a button, but it also is a social network by itself. They say a picture is a thousand words, there is no better way for people to connect than by sharing beautiful photos of their lives. Facebook currently has a lackluster photo browser with no editing functionality. With the acquisition of Instagram, Facebook adds another great way for users to share their lives with others.

This article is all about eliminating the competition. That’s all that Mark Z wanted to do. You said that Instagram was on the verge of becoming its own social network. This would have posed a threat to facebook and Mark Z. So paying $1 billion dollars to eliminate a competitor and gain another million users doesn’t hurt Mark Z in the long run. The company Instagram also wasn’t making any money, yet I do believe that in time it would have and their creators would have capitalized on it. It was better to buy it now in Mark’s case instead of spending more than what he spent already. A billion dollars makes the Lotto look like chunk change and some people just have too much of it.

I agree with Brandon, that in this case, and many other cases beit onlince, technology, or commercial companies, it is all about eliminitating the competition or getting in on the action that is the most hyped up. I think the instagram app is also a testimony and even an inspiration to those in the field who can come up with this fun new idea that catches on and in the beginning isn’t about revenue or how much money you can make off of it but it will end up catching the interest of those willing to put all this money behind your product becuase you have done such a good job with it.

The decision to purchase Instagram was an interesting one for Facebook. Also, Instagram has also received a lot of attention because they recently launch on Android phones for the first time. Many iPhone users where upset with this because they liked the exclusivity of the app on their phones, creating a sense of superiority. However, this move was only inevitable for Instagram and I find the reaction silly. But it does prove that the application is valued very much and is likely a good by for Facebook. There seems to be a bit of indifference with Facebook lately and it seems like they are trying to keep people’s attention in new ways.

It is hard to fathom that anyone would pay over a billion dollars for a phone App. However, like Brandon said it is all about eliminating the competition and creating a monopoly which Mark has done. Until recently I had not even heard about Instgram but in the past few months it seems to be the next biggest thing. Recently I have heard more and more of my friends saying I am not really going on my Facebook anymore I just look at Instagram. So maybe Mark had a inclination that Instagram would soon over take Facebook and he was protecting his wealth and investment by sending over a billion dollars– such irony.

When I heard about how Zuckerberg spent 1 billion dollars on Instagram, I was not suprised. Facebook is extremely popular, but there is a big chance that other social networks can come along and become even bigger than facebook. The 1 billion dollars that Zuckerberg spent does not even compare to the amount of money Facebook generates.

Definitely an interesting read. I had just done a smaller article review earlier on how Apple had acquired a search engine known as chomp for $50 million. Although the price difference is $950 million more, the initial concept is the same…these acquisitions 1)Eliminate competition and 2) Add value to the company’s portfolio and ability to offer more popular user services. Yeah $1,000,000,000 is a large amount to cough over for a service that was generation zero in revenues, but this move was more than just bettering Facebook’s services or portfolio. This move is about controlling the industry and just like any investment, the hope is that this move will increase in value as time goes on.

I love Instagram but I am not sure how this will affect it, I hope they don’t tweak the app too much because it is a really good app. I don’t think it is worth $1 billion but I guess when you’re Mark Zuckerberg you can spend as much money as you want. I guess it makes sense that he bought it because Instagram is getting very very popular, everyone I know has one. It seems that he is doing a smart move by buying out his biggest competition, and why not? he has all the money in the world to do whatever he wants and he is still making money on all his investments. That kid is way smart! but I don’t think Instagram would have taken over Facebook. Ive been using it for about a year and a half and it is no where close to Facebook. You can’t tag people in your pictures really, there is a very basic bio area, and you can comment on others pictures but again it does not come close to Facebook. Perhaps he was just looking out, just in case they tweaked Instagram to make it more like Facebook. either way I like both apps and Im happy both are here to stay!

I think that Facebook and Mr. Zuckerberg realized that even though instagram won’t make any money for them physically, it will definitely bring more people to the facebook site itself which in turns makes them more money then their measly 1 Billion they spent. There are a lot of people out there as I have been seeing in different articles is that people think Zuckerberg fell off his rocker, but think about it this way. This guy is way smarter then most of us, if not all of us. Do you really think he would spend a billion dollars unless it was either absolutely necessary to do for survival or it was going to boost or add something beneficial to facebook. The answer ladies and gentleman is no. Mr. Zuckerberg has had countless numbers of research teams looking at instagram for a long time and finally decided along with his team that it was time to buy them. I personally hear that all my friends use instagram, I don’t have an iphone so I don’t know exactly how it works, but I feel like it’s just like twitter but with pictures. Not a bad idea, people love visuals. Think about it..Picture book or regular book? Yeah, pop up pictures all day!

I honestly think the whole thing is ridiculous. I totally understand why Mark would be nervous about the popularity of Instagram. But paying $1 billion?? Is anything really worth that much? This just goes to show how much of a part technology plays in today’s society. If both Facebook and Instagram are extremely popular, then that must mean that A LOT of people are on these sites. It is so interesting that both Facebook and Instagram started off so small and now they are successful and thriving. It really gives hope to the individuals who have a desire to create a new app or website. As long as technology is around and improving, new apps are going to be created.

I find it interesting that companies like Facebook are willing to spend so much money on a company that does not produce any revenue of any sort. As a business major myself, I ponder on if Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of the Facebook team will ever see that $1 Billion dollars that was spent on such a purchase that will most likely never gain the money lost. Even if the what is now free instagram app were to cost money, I feel that it would lose some, if not most, of its customers, just because of the lack of need to purchase such an app.

I read about this a few days ago and it blew my mind that an app that had no revenues was sold for a billion dollars. Even an app that was worth something to be sold for that amount of money is hard to even process in my mind. I feel like that was pretty smart for Zuckeberg to buy Instagram because it is in fact one of their biggest competitors, and he is worth so much money that the billion wont even be a big deal for him. I assume he will make the money back now that he owns both Facebook and Instagram.

Though one billion dollars is a mind blowing price, I am not surprised that Mark Z spent that kind of money for Instragram since it posed a threat to Facebook. I do not think that Instagram will bring Facebook much revenue, but it will help make Facebook more popular. I think the Instagram guys got the good end of the deal since they got paid so much money and were making nothing before.

To be honest, I had no idea what Instagram was until reading this article. I always saw the “instagram” pictures on my facebook newsfeed but never knew that it was a phone app. After learning what Instagram is in the post makes it all make sense why Mark Z bought it. All that goes through my facebook news feed is Instagram photos showing that Instagram is gaining popularity. People are no longer just uploading photos to their facebook profile via facebook but they are using Instagram to share the photos. Regardless, a billion dollars is a lot of money and it is surprising that a phone app could come close to being worth that much.

$1 billion dollars for Instagram? Seems like it was an investment for future increased revenue and profit. I think this was a way for Mark Z. To eliminate his competition for Facebook. I think his intentions could have been to combine Instagram only users with Facebook users. This would increase revenue for Mark Z. It was a clever yet strategic move by Mark Z. I cannot believe though that the employees of Instagram (I think there were 13) became instant millionaires just because Mark Z. Bought their company from them!

It is difficult to determine whether or not Instagram will ever be worth 1 billion dollars, but I have to say that Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most brilliant people alive when it comes to social media sites and people should probably trust his judgment. It does seem extreme to spend 1 billion dollars on a free site, but Facebook is also a free site and it generates billions of dollars even though people don’t have to pay to use it. Zuckerberg will likely multiply his investment greatly, just as he did when he created Facebook. I agree with a point both your post and other comments have made though, which is this buyout likely occurred because Zuckerberg was intimidated by Instagram’s rise in popularity and didn’t want Facebook to be outdone by this new site. It was a risk, but will probably end up being good for Zuckerberg and Facebook in the future. Think about it… if Myspace would have bought out Facebook soon after the site’s launch… Myspace would be the multi-billion dollar enterprise instead of Facebook.

Personally, I can’t the amount of one billion dollars, never mind the thought of using or spending it, and on top of that, spending it on a profitless opportunity!! Name recognition, which is what this purchase was all about, is becoming too much of a need is our modern social media crazed world. Typically, social media sites make money through clever advertising. Facebook has been the ideal example of this along with their clean layout and design. We will see if Mark Zuckerburg and gang can turn Instagram into a money making machine to go along with the original, Facebook.

I found a lot of truth in this post and it was very interesting. I can’t believe how much things have changed. Once a million dollars seemed like so much. And suddenly, in 2012, a million dollars is the new one hundred dollars, so to speak. I look forward to seeing where Instagram ends up as it is already steadily increasing in popularity. And now that Facebook and Instagram are conjoined, I can only imagine that kind of money making machine Instagram will become. However, on the flip side, since Instagram is such an exclusive application, which is only featured on iPhones, except recently now available on the Android, I wonder if it will just be a quick fad that will soon leave. It’s certainly not like Facebook, which is available to anyone with Internet access.

I have heard a lot of different opinions about Mark Zuckerberg buying Instagram. Some of them were positive, some were negative. But to be honest, I think that Mark knows EXACTLY what he is doing. And lets be real here, he is more successful than majority of people here so why judge him..!? Of course he knows what he is doing and I have no doubt that he has made a right decision.

I agree with nearly everyone in the surprising news that someone would pay 1 billion dollars for a phone app. Not only would one be willing to do that to keep competition out, but has that money around to spend on something with no revenue. It is interesting when Zuckerberg says things like “For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.” When really he just means, I did not want to loose any money and I want people from now on to associate facebook with instagram which will bring me more money. When you own a business that makes you that rich I think people only think of how much money they can keep making, because the thought of losing money, would be losing their identity.

I don’t use instagram personally but I know that it seems like everyone else does. It has become an enormously successful app even if it doesn’t bring in revenue. They are successful in the fact that they have attracted so many people to use their product and even via other social media options millions of more eyes to their site. Zuckerberg, yes paid an outlandish sum of money for the simple app, but he really bought back the millions of eyes that we was loosing to a free photo viewing social media app. If he can pay the sum, all the power to him. I think it was a good business move on his part even if the dollar amount seems extravagant. Plus, he also got everyone talking about it- drawing attention to his product (now “products”- both facebook and instagram)

In reading about the article about Facebook buying Instagram was very intersting. When I was on twitter and read about the trending topic of that Facebook bout Instagram, I thought that there is nothing that Facebook would not do at this point. Facebook is really nowdays the really only way to contact people and so Instagram is just people posting pictures of anything, which I do not see the point but I guess in some ways it does have value. It can benefit people in certain ways it just depends how people use Instagram.

Being that Instagram is an everyday part of my life, I did have an opinion on this matter before the news and media made a big deal about it. Although the cost of this simple app seems a bit much, I completely think that Instagram deserves the amount that Facebook offered for it. Instragram has blown up and taken the world by storm over the last few months. People were even changing cell phones and cell phone service carriers to be able to have this app. However, I am hoping that now that Facebook has it’s grubby little hands on it, it does not attempt to pollute Instragram with its filthy ads like it does on its own website.