How Instagram scaled to 14 million users with only 3 engineers

The single-user utility should allow creation of content that will ultimately form the core of the network. The core of Instagram is pictures.

As with other social networks that grow, Instagram broadened its formats early on to head off several format-based asymptotes. Non-square photos and videos with gradually lengthening time limits have broadened the use cases and, more importantly, removed some level of production friction.

On the “pro” side of the argument: Facebook’s data shows that short entertaining videos are drinking photos’ milkshake, and if Instagram wants to survive they need to jump off their burning platform. On the “con” side: the entire internet seems to be united against Instagram’s new product strategy, and it’s possible that this change could ruin what... See more

-This is part of what makes early internet innovation so rapid- it was built on open protocols that devs knew wouldnt change