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EMPICS Entertainment

Instagram is now bigger than Twitter

For the first time, it has more users than Twitter.

INSTAGRAM, THE PHOTO-sharing social network owned by Facebook, announced it has more than 300 million users as it unveiled a new system to authenticate celebrity members.

The update means Instagram has for the first time overtaken Twitter, which claimed 284 million active users at the end of September.

“Over the past four years, what began as two friends with a dream has grown into a global community that shares more than 70 million photos and videos each day,” Instagram chief executive Kevin Systrom said in a blog.

Instagram is home to creativity in all of its forms, a place where you can find everything from images of the Nile River to the newest look from Herschel Supply or a peek inside the mind of Taylor Swift.

Systrom also said Instragram would start using “verified badges for celebrities, athletes and brands,” to help users ensure they are following these members and no copycats.

“These badges will start rolling out over the coming days,” Systrom said

We’re committed to doing everything possible to keep Instagram free from the fake and spammy accounts that plague much of the Web… we’ve been deactivating spammy accounts from Instagram on an ongoing basis to improve your experience. As part of this effort, we will be deleting these accounts forever, so they will no longer be included in follower counts.

Facebook completed its acquisition of Instagram in 2012. The original price was pegged at $1 billion but the final value was less because of a drop in Facebook’s share price.

The main point of Instagram is to share smartphone snaps, which can be enhanced with image filters to mimic historic types of film.

Debra Aho Williamson at the research firm eMarketer said Instagram has a good deal of potential for advertising with an estimated 52.5 million monthly users in the US alone.

- © AFP, 2014

Read: The most-liked Instagram photos of 2014 are pretty sigh-worthy>

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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan mulvey
    Favourite Alan mulvey
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    Dec 11th 2014, 9:31 AM

    I don’t get that app. Seems silly to me I must be getting old

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute neeneee
    Favourite neeneee
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    Dec 11th 2014, 10:17 AM

    it doesn’t appeal to dinosaurs.

    16
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    Mute The Doctor
    Favourite The Doctor
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    Dec 11th 2014, 10:23 AM

    Yeah, it’s not for older people. It’s for smug vain little s hits who think the world actually cares about them.

    44
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    Mute neeneee
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    Dec 11th 2014, 10:28 AM

    Oohh someone’s got a chip on there shoulder!!!I was only joking but it’s hit a nerve with you ya big dinosaur ya!!

    7
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    Mute neeneee
    Favourite neeneee
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    Dec 11th 2014, 10:28 AM

    *their

    3
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    Mute jason bourne
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    Dec 11th 2014, 11:08 AM

    Neenee give us a link to your Instagram so we can see what a gimp looks like

    18
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    Mute neeneee
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    Dec 11th 2014, 11:27 AM

    If gimps are your thing there’s websites for that kinda stuff Jason.no need to post your fetishes on the journal

    12
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    Mute jason bourne
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    Dec 11th 2014, 12:46 PM

    They sure are! So how about it, hop on in to your cat woman outfit, stick a rubber ball in your mouth, point your phone at the bathroom mirror, stick a few pics up on Instagram and give us a laugh!

    4
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    Mute neeneee
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    Dec 11th 2014, 1:20 PM

    Did I just see a tumbleweed

    2
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    Mute jason bourne
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    Dec 11th 2014, 1:36 PM

    You’re probably mistaking the remnants of your mothers weekly shave for tumbleweed!

    8
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    Mute Paddy Mac
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    Dec 11th 2014, 1:39 PM

    Oooohhh Bourne wins!!

    13
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    Mute neeneee
    Favourite neeneee
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    Dec 11th 2014, 2:19 PM

    No I forgot your mother waxes

    1
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    Mute John Collins
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    Dec 11th 2014, 2:40 PM

    They are all silly, they’re childish, I cringe whenever I see adults on them.

    1
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    Mute ConorBeta
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    Dec 11th 2014, 12:03 PM

    I like Instagram. It’s just photos like you would have in a photo album. Not like the thoughtful (or thoughtless) diary you get on Facebook. I would look at a friends photo album but I wouldn’t read their diary. I hope they keep Instagram the way it is.

    16
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    Mute Jake Race
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    Dec 11th 2014, 3:40 PM

    Insta what? WTF is instagram?

    2
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    Mute Brian Wilson
    Favourite Brian Wilson
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    Dec 13th 2014, 12:14 AM

    Great story, let me go ahead and Tweet it!

    1
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