Meta says Instagram has 3 billion users. But who counts?

"Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday that the once-humble photo-sharing app, which he had the foresight to buy for a mere $1 billion in 2012, now has more than 3 billion active users. That's an extraordinary achievement, and not just because Instagram had barely cracked 30 million monthly active users at sale time. Three billion is nearly 37 percent of the population of Earth."

"If it were a country, Instagram would be larger than India (which has the largest Insta audience), China, the U.S. and the E.U. combined. The Roman Empire, the British Empire, the American whatever-this-is - they can only dream of this level of conquest. No empire, real or virtual (and these days who can tell the difference), has ever been forged this quickly."

Instagram has surpassed 3 billion active users, reaching that milestone just ahead of its 15th anniversary. Meta acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 when the platform had roughly 30 million monthly active users. The 3 billion figure equals nearly 37 percent of the global population. If Instagram were a country, its user base would exceed the populations of India, China, the United States and the European Union combined. The platform achieved this scale and speed of adoption faster than historical empires and most modern platforms, underscoring unprecedented global reach for a photo-sharing service.

Read at Mashable