A huge tech news story has just broken today with an official announcement from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and an official Facebook press release to the effect that Facebook has acquired Instagram for $1 billion.
“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests,†said Zuckerberg in his statement.
So should iPhone/iPad owners panic that maybe their beloved Instagram app will soon be no more, having been swallowed up and incorporated into the behemoth that is Facebook? Well no, according to Zuberberg, who says “we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook. That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.â€
For the Facebook-phobic who don’t like the thought of their Instagram photos now being linked in some way to Facebook, Zuckerberg says that Facebook intends to keep Instagram’s ability to post to other social networks besides Facebook, and the ability to decide not to post your Instagrams to Facebook, and to have followers and follow people separate from Facebook, which should be reassuring to many who are a bit concerned by this news.
Meanwhile, 9to5 Mac reports that Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom has also made a statement on the acquisition on his Instagram blog, saying that “the Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love.â€
Source: Facebook acquires photo sharing app Instagram for $1 billion | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence
