Happy Birthday, Instagram! Today the popular social media platform celebrates the twelfth year since its initial launching. The first-ever posting, made by the co-founder, was a picture of a dog. So there’s a good chance many of the 25,000 first-day users got a glimpse of the pup.
While the site now celebrates its twelfth birthday, most of today’s Instagram users were that age at its unveiling. The site’s most frequent viewers are now between 18 and 29 years old, a generation raised on social media. The age group transformed the way we communicate through these emerging technologies.
Instagram, named from the mashing of “instant camera” and “telegram,” shares about 80 million photos on a typical day. Those photos receive over 3.5 billion “likes.” As of 2018, the platform has shared over 45 billion photos. Unsurprisingly, selfies are the top loaded pictures on Instagram, numbering over 290 million. If you are interested in the most popular post on the platform, it is a picture Kylie Jenner posted of her newborn daughter – weighing in at over 17.9 million likes. In addition, Selena Gomez can boast that she has the platform’s most remarkable following, with 138 million followers. Finally, pizza is the most Instagrammed delicacy in the food category, ranking ahead of sushi and steak.
Facebook, the most engaged social media network, purchased Instagram a decade ago, in 2012, for $1 billion. Since then, the two networks have dramatically increased their collaboration and become among the most significant societal influence. While 80% of all Instagram accounts are personal, the site claims at least one million advertisers are promoting products and goods to consumers. The most followed brands on Instagram are National Geographic, Nike, Victoria’s Secret, 9GAG, and Nike Football.
We invite you to post a picture on your Instagram account commemorating the site’s dozen years this weekend. Why not join us for worship this Sunday and take a selfie with a fellow worshipper? We challenge you to see how many “likes” you can get for pictures taken on our church property. Join us for worship this Sunday, October 9, at 8:00 AM, 10:15 AM, or 6:00 PM.
Blessings,
Pastor Marc
Rev. Marc Herbst
Interim Pastor
Church of the Good Shepherd – Lutheran
99 Central Park Road
Plainview, NY 11803
