In just four years, Instagram has exploded to over 200 million monthly active users (MAUs), making it the fastest growing social network on the planet.[1] While the number of MAUs falls well short of other social networks, Instagram has the most engaged users.[2]
A study was done using the rock band Paramore’s social media accounts. The same image was posted to their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts simultaneously, with these results:[3]
- Facebook Fan Page (3,200,000 fans) – 9,405 likes
- Twitter (3,350,000 followers) – 433 retweets and 289 favorites
- Instagram (360,000 followers) – 52,237 likes and 315 comments
With only one-tenth the following of their Facebook fan page, their Instagram account generated 5 times more activity.
Forrester Research also conducted a study yielding similar results. They found that Instagram had a fan engagement rate 58 times higher than Facebook and 120 times higher than Twitter.[4]
These numbers are truly astounding. What is the reason for the massive jump in engagement on Instagram? One explanation has to do with how networks are structured. Let’s take a look at three of the major ones:
