Instagram announced today that it now has more than 600 million users, with the last 100 million of those users joining the photo and video sharing service in the past six months, a period in which it has added several new Snapchat-like features. Instagram has doubled the 300 million users it had in December 2014.
A lot has changed this year, but the Instagram community and the diversity of expression it provides has remained consistent. And you now have more ways to share than ever before with Instagram Stories, live video and disappearing photos and videos in Direct. Additionally, with updated safety tools that give you more control over comments and other parts of your experience, we’re working to make Instagram safer than ever for connection and self-expression.
Instagram, owned by Facebook, has morphed into a Snapchat competitor this year with the addition of "Stories" that disappear after 24 hours, a new "Events" channel, and photos and videos that disappear in direct messages. Facebook has also wittingly added Snapchat-like features to Messenger.
Update: In related news, Facebook Messenger has been updated today with another new Snapchat-like feature enabling users to customize their photos and videos with text art, filters, stickers, and more, as reported by TechCrunch.
![iCloud Mail, Calendar, Contacts and More Experiencing Outage [Updated]](https://images.macrumors.com/t/SbkSBpphyjvBjtgfgNZg-KvvJD0=/112x112/article-new/2026/07/General-iCloud-App-Feature.jpg)
Top Rated Comments
Sometimes I just want to send a picture of something I'm drinking to someone because we just talked about that the day before, or I know it's her favourite drink, etc etc.
Or I send stupid pictures of myself or friends just to show it to some people, but the picture itself won't have any meaning a few minutes/hours/days from now and thus will be a waste of space.
Point is, you share a moment with someone, and that moment is meant to be ephemeral.
I love gadgets and the way they can improve otherwise mundane and monotonous tasks.
I still however cannot get my head around the idea that an app that allows someone to share a photo of a cat or their dinner, which then disappears later on, is so massively popular.
If a photo is worth taking and sharing so others can share in the excitement, then isn't that what why they join Facebook?
Clearly it must just be me, I get that.