Instagram Gains 50 Million Users As Facebook Increases Mobile Useage [UPDATED]

Call it the magic Zuckerberg effect, if you will. Instagram’s sprint from 30 million users in April, to 80 million users today is impressive by any standards.

The mobile-only app is therefore adding users at a scorching average of 10 million users per month! The news comes in handy for acquirer, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), who reported a somewhat disappointing quarter – it’s first as a public company. The user growth at Instagram probably validates its sticker price of $1 billion for Facebook.

Instagram has also revealed that almost 4 billion images have been shared since the platform’s launch back in October 2010. It may be interesting to look at Instagram’s announcement below:

    “We’re excited to announce that the Instagram community has grown to over 80 million registered users who have shared nearly 4 billion photos! Since we launched Instagram in October 2010, we’ve expanded from one platform to two, bringing Instagram to Android users as well as iOS users. As the community has grown, we’ve seen people sharing photos from all around the world, from South Korea to Bolivia, and even underwater!

    We’re humbled by the amazing photos from people’s lives we see every day on Instagram, and thank you for being part of this growing community.

    The Instagram Team”

And therein lies the clue. The app has spread its wings from being just an iPhone app, to also including Android, thereby covering the best of both worlds.

One of the main concerns with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has been its perceived difficulties with monetizing the rapidly growing mobile user base. Instagram could start playing a very large role here, as it could be the catalyst for pushing Facebook’s mobile initiatives, be they advertising or ecommerce, into user consciousness.

Meanwhile, it appears that “Twitter has changed API restrictions for Instagram, and has eliminated the “Find Your Friends” feature that Instagram previously offered,” according to this news on SlashGear. There is an opinion that this may have been done on bandwidth considerations, but quite possibly it could also be Twitter paying Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in kind for blocking Twitter’s access to Facebook’s Friend Finder feature in June 2010.

Title Update: Rectified – Gain of 50M users.