A few years ago there was only Facebook and Twitter. Now, high up in the social media realm, there is also Instagram. But who and how did they create this social media giant? How did it manage to have a billion members?

Eight years ago, Kevin Sistrom and Mike Kringer were writing history.

How Instagram started

Everything started with the photo of a dog. A stray dog. The photo of a stray dog sitting near a table that sells tacos in Mexico, which Kevin shot and posted. It was the first picture ever to be shared on Instagram.

He just wrote “test” in the caption and posted it a few months before his idea became known to the audience. “If I knew it would be the first photo of Instagram, I would have tried something more difficult”, he said.

The photo received over 93,000 likes and was the pinnacle of the idea he “conceived” with Mike. It was a direct success, winning a million users in the first two months. Some experts say it arrived at the perfect moment.

Recent Developments

Since then the company has exploded. Within two years, more than 50 million users joined the application. In 2012 it was bought from Facebook for a billion dollars. “The introduction of Stories was a big change that led people to publish more frequent updates,” says Jody Cook, a social media expert.

An important part of Instagram’s success was its ability to attract those celebrities that in turn attract a large number of fans. Instagram quickly became an important advertising platform. “It’s crazy for some businesses. I know some have had amazing results and they’ve been selling whole entire collections making this move.”

“Everybody wants to be an influencer,” he says. “People have seen how easy it is to start an account and think it can be an easy way to make money. On the other hand, small businesses have made their registration because they know that there is the power to connect with influencers and invite them to promote their products or services. This is certainly something that has strengthened the growth of Instagram.”