Last week, Instagram
hit 27 million users, solidifying it not only as one of the most
popular photo-sharing services on the market, but as one of the world’s fastest-growing social networks.
What’s especially remarkable about Instagram’s rocketing growth–its
user base has tripled in the last six months–is that the startup has
managed to goose engagement all from within the silo of an essentially
walled-off platform: The app is available only on the iPhone (an Android
version is on the horizon), and while users can push Instagram photos
out to other social networks, they haven’t yet been able to push photos
into Instagram from other services–unlike on Facebook, Twitter,
Google , and Flickr, which allow imports from basically anywhere.
That’s all about to change. Later today, Hipstamatic is set to unveil a
partnership with Instagram that allows photos taken on the camera app,
which enables users to snap professional-looking pictures with stylized
films and vintage-era lenses, to be ported directly into Instagram’s
network with just one click. It represents the first time Instagram has
opened up this platform API to third parties, and marks a move toward
letting photos freely flow into Instagram’s network from outside
sources.
