Instagram Trumps Twitter On Usage

Based on recent surveys, Instagram topped Twitter in terms of active user population . Millions of smartphone users show that pictures are catchier compared to tweets. Instagram now averages 7.3 million active users every day in August. Twitter had 6.9 million according to comScore, an online measurement group. Instagram users also spend about 257 minutes sharing and viewing photos. Twitter users only spend 170 minutes tweeting and reading posts. Overall, Twitter still wins when it comes to mobile users. There are about 100 million smartphone users in America. Twitter has 29 million while Instagram has 22 million. Many experts speculate that the fast popularity growth of Instagram can be credited to its rich visual content. Every photo will require a few seconds or minutes for people to appreciate or understand. Text messages are faster and easier to view. Although Twitter users can embed videos, pictures and links, there seems to be a huge difference when it comes to viewing actual photos and tweets. Although Twitter has more smartphone users logging on to the website using the mobile Web and related applications, the users of Instagram seem to keep visiting the site more frequently. Facebook did not give any comments on the findings. Twitter also did not leave any comment about the comparisons. Regardless, this is a huge leap for Instagram, considering that it has only been operating for about 2 years. Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg may be enjoying the new success of Instagram but has to create an effective business model to convert Facebook?s vast number of users into actual cash. Facebook is the parent company of Instagram. Twitter has effectively created a scheme that focuses on online advertising to help boost its numbers. The new scheme is expected to bring in at least $130 million from mobile advertisements in 2012. This is almost twice the amount that Facebook expects to reap this year. Another challenge for Facebook is to come up with mobile ad products that will bank on the main advantages that Instagram offers. Since more smartphone users keep coming back to Instagram to check more pictures, the company has to determine new ways to make money out of the opportunity.