Identification of Underlying Technologies: of Instagram - Case Study Example

Running Head: SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE: INSTAGRAM Social Technology Deep Dive: Instagram Social Technology Deep Dive: Instagram Mobile applications have been characterized by rapid rates of innovation. With a high rate of changes in the tastes and preferences of consumers, developers of mobile applications have been forced to continuously adapt to rapid innovations. These innovations have sought to either improve existing applications or develop entirely new ones in the market. One growing area of mobile applications has been photo and video sharing platforms. As an increasing number of consumers take up the applications, the rate of growth and change of these applications in the market has been high. The high demand has been reflected not only among individual consumers but also business organizations that use such applications to enhance their business operations. This means that the current market for photo and video sharing is characterized by rapid growth as well as increasing competition between the players. Instagram is a mobile application that allows users to develop and share photos and videos on social networking sites. In this white paper, information about product overview, underlying technologies and standard features of the application will be provided. Also, information about the risks, weaknesses and other ethical concerns that arise with the use of the application will be presented. Lastly, general and specific recommendations on how the application can be improved are presented. Product Overview An overview of Instagram can be understood in terms of three related dimensions: its history, market penetration and current competitors in the market. Instagram was started back in 2010 as a mobile application that allowed users to share images online. Started by two graduates from Stanford University, Kevin Systrom and Mike Kriegler, the mobile application platform immediately recorded phenomenal growth following its official launch (ASCPL, 2012, p. 2). In the year 2010, Instagram recorded one over million users. The application’s growth in popularity was further indicated by figures at the end of 2012 which indicated that it had over 80 million users by that time with over 4 billion photos having been uploaded (Instagram 2013). The history and penetration of the application can also be seen in the way it has been adapted for use on different platforms from the initial one. Initially, the application was operating only on iPhone, but following years of rapid growth, it is now available on Android-based smartphones. With this, the popularity of the application increases since many users can access it on different platforms. Currently, the company is fully owned by Facebook, having been acquired back in 2012. As such, the company is currently facing competition from Vine which is fully owned by Twitter. Identification of Underlying Technologies Basically, Instagram is a mobile application that allows users to create and share photos and short videos among themselves on different social media sites. Users are able to take photographs, edit them using special inbuilt filters and share the edited photographs with family and friends. According to the company, the inbuilt features in this application provide users with a wide variety of choices. For instance, by using the application, users can not only upload photos to multiple social networking sites instantly but also follow special interest groups (Instagram, 2013). In addition to this, the application provides a simple platform by which users can follow the events in the lives of other members, particularly celebrities. Although the application started as a tool for sharing images alone, the developers understood the importance of the video sharing market as well. Through simple inbuilt features, the application provides users with a means of creating and sharing short videos about their lives. This way, users can share hilarious events in their own lives across different social networking sites. In essence, it is these two key functionalities that form the underlying technology of the application: photo and video creation, editing and sharing capacities. Other common tools that the application offers to its users include tagging as a link to other profile pages, posting photos to share on the site and the profile page which is a collection of all the activities of a user over a given period. Problem Solution Essentially, Instagram allows users to share important events in their lives. This way, the application provides a solution for the general need for online social activity in the current society. The application is integrated with other leading social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Flickr (ASCPL, 2012, p. 3). As such, the application enables users to directly post their photographs on these networking sites after subjecting the photographs to the editing process using the inbuilt filters. By doing this, users of the application are able to build an online social community through following each other. Further, users can monitor and respond to all the comments that follow the photos uploaded. This way, the application works to satisfy the need for online social networking among individuals in the current society. Apart from presenting an online sharing experience to individual users, Instagram provides a solution to businesses. Businesses, both small and large, can use the application to promote their products and brands. They can do this by first creating a brand presence using the application. With photos of the products of a business created and uploaded, business organizations are able to build communities of users of their products using this application. Further, using the application, business organizations are able to engage with the community as well as monitor the activities taking place in the community built around its brand. Product Standard Tools and Features It has already been stated that Instagram contains easy to use features. The application has a number of different features and tools that make it easy for users to shoot, edit and upload photos and videos on social networking sites. To begin with, the application contains an easy to use photo sharing tool. Notably, users have access to different filtering tools with which they can modify their photographs before uploading them. Such filters include Nashville and Lord Kelvin among others (Linaschke, 2011). Another important functionality of the application is the video making and sharing functionality. This tool provides users with the ability to develop edit and share 15-second long videos. This feature provides users with additional tools such as video importation, image stabilization, filters and geo-tagging (Crook, 2013). When used on mobile phones, the application has several additional features that enhance its usability and overall functionality. For instance, the application has a navigation bar that is located at the bottom of the page. Also, the application contains tools that enable users to show approval of the activities of the others, comment and get notifications when there is someone wanting to interact with them on the platform (ASCPL, 2012, p. 5). Risks and Weaknesses Although Instagram allows users to access different security features, there are still a number of weaknesses that users may encounter when using the application. For instance, there is a risk that arises from the way users of the application intend the photos that they upload to be used. Some users of the application have been known to post photos that they do not intend to share on other social networking sites. However, this false sense of security in using the application entails a weakness of the application since the photos uploaded can easily find their way to other social networking sites which users were keen to avoid in the first place (Abbott, Donaghey, Hare & Hopkins, 2013). The second weakness of the application arises from its terms of use, particularly with special application to institutional users. For instance, the company (Instagram) announced new terms of use which, when interpreted, meant that the company would easily exploit the data uploaded by users for advertising purposes (Abbott et al., 2013). Although this issue was amended, it remains a weakness for different players in the industry. In essence, although the application presents users with many advantages, several weaknesses and risks needed to be fully addressed. Addressing these weaknesses will ensure that the steady growth of the application in popularity among both individuals and institutional users is maintained. Security Considerations According to Dinerman (2011, p. 4), there are a number of risks that are associated with all social networking sites. Since Instagram is not only integrated with these sites but also acts as an independent social networking site, these risks are applicable to the users of the application. To begin with, there is the danger of users accessing malicious content through the many applications that are common in social networking sites. Although this may not be directly related to Instagram, the fact that the use of the application is so much integrated to other leading social networking sites means that users of the application are continuously exposed to applications that look harmless but actually carry malicious content. The second security concern for social networking sites which bears a direct impact on Instagram is the possibility of spam hoaxes and obfuscation (Dinerman, 2011, p. 6). These kinds of hoaxes put the users of Instagram into the risk of getting in contact with different kinds of malware. Since these risks can have a negative impact on both the personal data held by the company and the information systems, Instagram should consider revising its acceptable use policies as a way of addressing these security considerations. Ethical Considerations There are several ethical considerations that arise with the use of Instagram. For instance, the company gains access to a lot of information about clients. This data is obtained not only from the activities of the users of Instagram but also from their activities on other social networking sites like Facebook. The ethical issue that arises from this arrangement is the possibility of Instagram using the information collected about users for different purposes other than the intended ones (American Society of Media Photographers, 2013, p. 3). Since this is a common problem for many social applications, there is need for the company to work with other stakeholders in the industry to address the issue. Another ethical consideration that the application faces arises from the relationship between user accounts and the content that they upload through their accounts onto the database of the application (American Society of Media Photographers, 2013, p. 7). Although users can terminate their accounts, the information that has already been uploaded remains the property of the company. Under this arrangement, there is the possibility of clients feeling that their ethical considerations are not met by the service. Once again, since this is a problem that affects all players in the industry, there is need for a multi-stakeholder approach to finding a solution. Opportunities There are numerous opportunities for the application in the market. To begin with, its compatibility with different platforms means that the application is accessible to many individuals who use different platforms apart from the iPhone which was the only platform with which the application was compatible at first. This has translated to immense growth in popularity among both individuals and institutional users. Another opportunity for the application arises from its merger with Facebook. With the merger, the application has grown in popularity to the figure of over 150 million users by the end of 2013 (Instagram, 2013). With the merger, the company is able to pursue the opportunity for delivering further utility to its users through the introduction of Instagram Direct, an application that allows users to send direct private messages to friends and other selected individuals. Another opportunity that the company can exploit for rapid growth in the market arises from its increasing popularity with business organizations as a tool for advertising their brands, products and services. The application should use the trend to provide business organizations with a platform on which they can reach out to their customers, engage with them and monitor the level of awareness of their brands. By using tools such as Followgram and Statigram, business organizations can effectively use the application to increase their sales. This translates to increased growth for the application. Future Features/Enhancements and Recommendations There are several ways in which the application can be enhanced in the future. All these recommendations arise from an examination of how the application performs in the market in comparison with other competing applications. To begin with, Instagram should consider developing the right tools that will enable users to directly access videos from their camera rolls. This is so because currently, even Vine, which is a major competitor in the video sharing market, does not have the tools to allow users access to videos from their camera rolls. If Instagram develops this feature first, it will most likely gain an upper hand in this market. Another feature that Instagram should consider developing is one that will both make the videos embeddable and allow for looping. Although currently the application is enjoying popular support for the fact that it allows users to make longer videos compared to other applications, there is need for the developers of the application to introduce these new features. This will increase usability of the application in the market, thus giving it a competitive advantage over the other competing applications in the market. References Abbott, W., Donaghey, J., Hare, J. & Hopkins, P. (2013). An Instagram is worth a thousand words: an industry panel and audience Q & A. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17095999& American Society of Media Photographers (2013). The Instagram papers: a collection of essays and analysis of the Instagram terms of use. Retrieved from http://asmp.org/pdfs/InstagramPapers.pdf ASCPL (2012). Instagram. Retrieved from http://www.akronlibrary.org/training/pdf/Instagram.pdf Crook, J. (2013). Instagram video vs. vine: what’s the difference? Tech Crunch, June 20, 2013. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/20/instagram-video-vs-vine-whats-the-difference/ Dinerman, B. (2011). Social networking and security risks. GFI White Paper. Retrieved from http://www.gfi.com/whitepapers/Social_Networking_and_Security_Risks.pdf Instagram (2013). Our story. Retrieved from http://instagram.com/press/# Linaschke, J. (2011). Getting the most from Instagram. Berkeley, CA: PeachPit Press. Read More