Instagram
Summary
Photo and video sharing app with features for sharing and promoting content via organic posts and advertising.
Parent organisation: Facebook
Type of organisation: Publicly listed group / parent co.
Market share: One of the leading products (#3-7)
Pricing: Highly variable depending on scale, from $1 to millions.
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Ability to whitelabel or customise
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Requires audience sign-in to use: Yes, sign-in compulsory
Parent organisation: Facebook
Type of organisation: Publicly listed group / parent co.
Market share: One of the leading products (#3-7)
Pricing: Highly variable depending on scale, from $1 to millions.
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Ability to whitelabel or customise
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Requires audience sign-in to use: Yes, sign-in compulsory
Pros
Open Source alternatives available
Shares product roadmap
Transparent pricing model
Plain English TOS
Clear data policies
Allows data export
Allows data deletion
Cons
Newsworthy business problems - Federal regulators are considering blocking Facebook from combining WhatsApp, Instagram and its other apps
Newsworthy technical issues - Instagram down: Hundreds of users across the UK complain app is not working, Facebook, Instagram restores service after major outage Newsworthy technical issues -
Newsworthy security breaches - Instagram website leaked phone numbers and emails for months, researcher says, This article is more than 1 year old Facebook says nearly 50m users compromised in huge security breach, Instagram Just Revealed That Hackers Infiltrated ‘High-Profile’ Accounts
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | |
| Product URL | https://www.instagram.com/ |
| Parent organisation | |
| Workflow category | Audience engagement & monetisation |
| Date product founded | 2010 |
| Product description | Photo and video sharing app with features for sharing and promoting content via organic posts and advertising. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Publicly-listed company (or group) |
| Is the company profit-making? | Yes, profitable |
| How is this product funded? | Advertising |
| What market share does the tool have? | One of the leading products (#3-7) |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | Yes. PixelFed |
| When did the company last release new features? | December 2019: Layouts feature in Stories. |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | Yes. Detection of offensive language and bullying in comments (gradual rollout) |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | No |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | Yes. Federal regulators are considering blocking Facebook from combining WhatsApp, Instagram and its other apps |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | Product is clearly listed as free |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | N/A no pricing model listed |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Highly variable depending on scale, from $1 to millions. |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | Additional features, More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Ability to whitelabel or customise |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Cannot tell |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No, but Facebook plans to merge the tech stack for its messaging apps, including Instagram, soon. |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | Yes. Instagram down: Hundreds of users across the UK complain app is not working, Facebook, Instagram restores service after major outage |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Simplified, plain English TOS |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | GDPR unclear on these details |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | Yes, sign-in compulsory |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | Yes. Facebook authentication |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | Yes: Audience can data export, Yes: Export publisher metadata, Y: Export/transfer publisher content |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | Yes: for both publisher and audience data |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | Yes. Instagram website leaked phone numbers and emails for months, researcher says, This article is more than 1 year old Facebook says nearly 50m users compromised in huge security breach, Instagram Just Revealed That Hackers Infiltrated ‘High-Profile’ Accounts |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | No / cannot find |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | Yes |