Facebook and Instagram both announced milestones this week, as the larger social network celebrated a billion monthly mobile users, while its photo-based acquisition noted their 200 millionth.
Both companies have been heavily iterating on mobile recently, with Facebook attempting to reach developing nations with its low-bandwidth Facebook Zero and Instagram renovating its Android app to support many of the platform’s slower offerings.
In a blog post today, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom said, “As we exceed 20 billion photos shared on Instagram to date, we look back in wonder at the beauty and importance of everything this community has created.” Those 20 billion photos have only been across three platforms, with Windows Phone being added to the iPhone and Android retinue in recent months. The company also claims to have added 50 million new users in the past six months alone.
While 200 million users may seem like a lot, Instagram’s growth has been slower than some other communication apps like WhatsApp, Line and WeChat, which also offer photo sharing on a more private level. Instagram Direct, launched last year, is the company’s attempt to compete directly with those messaging apps, but pickup has been limited at best.
Facebook’s one billion monthly users is also 55 million more than its previous announcement, made during its latest earnings at the end of January. Facebook’s mobile growth, while slowing, is considerably faster than its equivalent desktop growth, which appears to be levelling off at 1.25 billion users.
