INSTAGRAM
Current Rank: 7
Previous Rank: –
Just three years ago, in October 2010, a photo-sharing application launched and quickly rose to fame, instantly turning iPhone users into part-time photographers. Founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram began as a trendy app that allowed its users to utilize various enhancing filters on their personal photos. In the beginning stages, the app was limited to iPhone users and expanded to Android users with constant updates and new features added daily. Facebook offered Instagram a staggering $1 billion to purchase the app, which eventually sold for $750 million. Approximately 16 billion photos have been shared, and the site boasts 100 million active users per month, 40 million photos per day, and 8,500 Likes per second. Instagram single-handedly crushed their competition, garnering over 5 million video uploads in the first 24 hours the option was added. Instagram is a selling force to be reckoned with. —Courtney Brown

