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Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

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Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#81
post #60

I remember the outrage when Zuckerberg bought Insta for $1bn. The Internet was filled with bubble-theorist. Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains.

> Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains.

Did he really predict that, or did he just see an upcoming potential competitive threat and buy it?

I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. They could have been the next Zuckerberg(s) (as Instagram seems to be taking over as Facebook seems to be starting to fade), but instead they're subordinates in Zuckerberg's empire.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#82

Too bad that "worth" doesn't come from anything. Oh no wait. User data. I can't wait for that to become an illegal trade.

> I can't wait for that to become an illegal trade. Why would that ever happen? How could that ever happen? That would destroy everything (note: hyperbole) of value currently offered for free on the internet.

Everything of value can be paid for.

The worth of an ad impression or click is measured in fractions of cents and the adds up to peanuts per month.

Publishers can just charge those peanuts directly and I’ll be happy to pay up (plus they’ll get more without the dozens of middlemen in the advertising/cancer industry).

But seems like publishers are greedy and want more than what the ads pay them, so that’s why subscription-based content sites don’t work at scale. For example, “Le Figaro” (a French newspaper) asks 9€/month for their subscription, despite making less that 1€/month from serving ads to me, so obviously I don’t subscribe and get by with blocking their (really shit, think Outbrain/Taboola “related content”) ads.

On the other hand, I’ve recently started supporting creators on Patreon at the tune of 1$/video. It’s something I can afford to do for every creator I watch, and while being an insignificant amount by itself it would be a significant bag of money should every viewer pay (and definitely more than they can even dream of making from ads).

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#83
post #48

I've long had a theory (maybe it's not that revolutionary) that part of Instagram's success is it allowed people a free pass to be vain and show off-y. On Facebook, it was a bit stigmatized to post a picture of an expensive purchase, amazing house interior, fancy vacation, or workout picture of your physique. However, it's the entire point of Instagram. Couple that in with all the brands and other accounts of inspira…

Instagram is basically Twitter where you have to post a photo.

I agree that Instagram could not have grown to this size without being part of Facebook.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#84

No wonder. Anecdotal of course, but I see my friends spending more time on instagram and people on the train or bus browsing instagram. I don't remember seeing FB on someone's mobile in the last 6 months. It will only grow bigger and at some point when it becomes too big, you see less friends posts and more advts and people move on to something else. But for next 2 years, Instagram's going to be Yuuuge.(Huge)

If you travel to other countries (for me, Thailand most recently) you'll see almost everyone on Facebook. Most small companies over there don't even have a website, just a FB page.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#85
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people use it? There's 1 billion monthly active accounts. And can be advertised to.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Instagram go the way of Twitter once more attention starts being called to the number of bots on IG. One of the big "value propositions" for IG is the advertising potential through influencers, but go to any influencer profile and you'll see that a significant portion of their followers are just paid bots. The "1 billion active accounts" number smells fishy to me. I have a few friends t…

It's going to become an ecosystem of bots following bots :) http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180402-the-fascinating-wo...

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#87
post #81
post #60

I remember the outrage when Zuckerberg bought Insta for $1bn. The Internet was filled with bubble-theorist. Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains.

> Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains. Did he really predict that, or did he just see an upcoming potential competitive threat and buy it? I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. They could have been the next Zuckerberg(s) (as Instagram seems to be taking over as Facebook seems to be starting to fade), but i…

You "feel sorry" for two people in their mid-twenties who made anywhere from $100M to $400M selling their 15 month old company (while making the other 11 employees rich along the way.)

Ok. Beyond that, why do you assume the valuation would be exactly the same had they not sold to FB?

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#88

but why?

"I could build Instagram in a weekend!"

Honestly though, building its functionality in a weekend is perfectly doable, the hard part is the ad tracking/stalking infrastructure that goes in the background.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And shame on the government for not doing any due diligence in trying to prevent this acquisition/monopoly.

Monopoly? In 2012, Instagram had 40 million users and no revenue[1]. Hardly a monopoly.. Everybody mocked Facebook for buying up Instagram for the amount of money they were offering. Nobody (or, perhaps, very very few amount of people) at the time thought it would become a $100bn company. You really think the government should have had the foresight to block this? Wishful thinking on your part.. [1] https://techcrunc…

>> And shame on the government for not doing any due diligence in trying to prevent this acquisition/monopoly.

> Monopoly? In 2012, Instagram had 40 million users and no revenue[1]. Hardly a monopoly.

I think you misunderstand. Facebook is the monopoly in the grandparent, not the independent Instagram.

I believe the GP's point is that the government should have blocked FB's acquisition of IG, so IG could have provided competition for FB.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#90
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people use it? There's 1 billion monthly active accounts. And can be advertised to.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Instagram go the way of Twitter once more attention starts being called to the number of bots on IG. One of the big "value propositions" for IG is the advertising potential through influencers, but go to any influencer profile and you'll see that a significant portion of their followers are just paid bots. The "1 billion active accounts" number smells fishy to me. I have a few friends t…

If it's an open secret then the advertisers will adjust for it. Radio and tv stations have been working with fuzzy audience numbers for years and advertisers go along with it.
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