You know that new photo sharing social networking service app called Instagram? Well, it has been bought by Facebook for $1 billion. It is Facebook's largest acquisition ever. Not surprising as the three big network giants battle it out - Google, Facebook and Microsoft.
If you have been living under a rock, Instagram lets people share photos they snap with their mobile devices. The app features many filters that allows you to take unique pictures. Within a year, Instagram has captured over 30 million people and it was iPhone App of the Year in 2011. Somehow, Facebook was able to afford it. The deal is expected to be closed by the end of June.
There were some mutterings online about users leaving Instagram now that Facebook has bought it, though in reality Facebook will probably make it more popular.
There’s a good reason for Facebook to keep Instagram going as a separate product, even if Facebook integrates some of its technology into its own service so that mobile photo sharing becomes easier. Google, for example, has kept YouTube separate even as it integrated some of its features into other products.
