Instagram has overtaken Twitter with 300 million users, as Facebook continues to monetise its photo-based social network with new ‘verified accounts’.
By comparison, Twitter claims to have 284 million users accessing the network each month.
The figures mean that Instagram is now nearly a quarter the size of its parent company Facebook, which leads the global social media market with 1.35 billion monthly active users.
Instagram recently Instagram introduced advertising, with “sponsored posts” allowing brands to reach the app’s growing number of users. Although some users were not happy about seeing adverts on Instagram, he said that adverts were needed to allow the company to grow and cope with its increasing size.
The social network is also introducing verified accounts similar to the blue tick symbols used by Facebook and Twitter.
In an attempt to get rid of fake accounts or those breaking the company’s rules, Instagram said it is deleting “spammy” accounts The company has warned that some users may find they have fewer followers as a result.
Instagram’s co-founder hinted the company would soon be adding new features based around specific events.
“You’re literally getting a view of what’s happening in the world right now. What we need to do is figure out how to take the fact that everyone’s contributing in the world and broadcast that more globally. If you’re interested in what’s happening at the World Cup, you can peer in, see the football players and see what they’re thinking and doing before they go onto the field. Those are the types of things that I want to enable over the next year.”
Since it was set up by co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in October 2010, Instagram has grown rapidly. In February 2013, the company announced it had reached 100 million active monthly users.