On 3 September, Instagram finally released its iPad app after a 15-year wait, with Reels as a key feature. Although this change has long been expected, many people are wondering why it happened now.
Reels at the Heart of Instagram’s iPad Strategy
Instagram is attempting to compete with TikTok in a market where short-form video content is king. Reels will be the main focus of the iPad app, but will it be sufficient to challenge TikTok’s overwhelming lead? Despite being much anticipated, the Instagram app is only compatible with iPads running iPadOS 15.1 or later.
Key Offerings of the App
With a multi-column interface that makes it simpler to browse comments, navigate between sections, and scroll through Reels, the redesigned app fully utilises the iPad’s larger screen. Reels take centre stage, but direct texting and story access are still simple.
Instagram’s focus on video content is a clear attempt to appeal to consumers who enjoy dynamic, fast-paced experiences. Initial evaluations emphasise the app’s wide design and easy usability, but some detractors have voiced worries that the emphasis on Reels may turn off users who enjoyed Instagram’s beginnings as a photo-sharing platform.
The transition to a video-first platform has generated conflicting responses from long-time Instagram users. Some audiences feel cut off from Instagram’s beginnings as a photo-sharing service, while younger audiences might welcome the shift with open arms.
Constant Evolution is the Key to Instagram’s Success
In the future, Instagram’s success will rely on how it develops further. Although the iPad app is a start in the right direction, Instagram will need to keep up with TikTok’s quick expansion. Reels’ picture-in-picture mode is one feature that might increase user engagement, but it’s unclear if these changes will be sufficient to influence users.
The capacity of Instagram to change without losing its recognisable character as a photo-sharing platform will determine its destiny. The platform will need to figure out how to differentiate itself in the congested video industry without losing its initial appeal as it becomes more video-focused. It remains to be seen whether Instagram can establish a significant niche or if it can keep up its fight against TikTok’s hegemony.
According to Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, his team is delivering Instagram to the iPad. “I’m really excited about this one because we took the time to design for the bigger screen.” He went on to say that although users will see all of the Instagram content they are used to, the business has made Reels stand out by utilising the additional space and created a following tab that makes it simple for users to keep up with all of the posts from the persons they follow.
Quick
Shots
•The
app puts Reels at the center to directly challenge TikTok’s dominance in
short-form video.
•Works
only on iPads running iPadOS 15.1 or later.
•Multi-column
interface for easier browsing.
•Reels,
direct messaging, and Stories remain easily accessible.
Edits is a new software that Meta has released. With this brand-new tool, users can shoot, edit, and export videos—including Instagram Reels. This can be done straight from their smartphones on both the iOS and Android operating systems.
Meta claims that by providing an all-in-one solution, Edits is intended to streamline the content development process. It claims that using its new app to film, edit, and post removes the need to transfer between several apps.
Edits is a stand-alone program that can be used to edit videos on any site, including Facebook and Instagram, in contrast to Instagram’s built-in editing capabilities. Users must, however, sign on with their Instagram login information.
Edits Comes With Unique Features
The Edits app has a number of integrated features designed to streamline mobile video production and make editing easier. Within the software, users can record video snippets that last no more than ten minutes each.
According to Meta, the purpose of this function is to allow users to produce lengthier films without having to transfer between programs. A timeline-based editing interface is another feature of the software that allows users to add visual effects, apply transitions, and trim clips.
Additionally, it has green screen capabilities that let users change the background. Users can save or share their edited films straight to Facebook, Instagram, and other websites. Meta claims that exported videos are watermark-free, enabling cleaner uploads.
In addition to editing and exporting, the Edits app shows viewer engagement metrics, such as skip rates, once the video has been posted on a platform. Creators and other users may find this information useful in understanding how their work is being received and where viewers tend to lose interest, according to Meta.
Steps to Follow to Get Edits
The Edits app is available for download from the Google Play Store or App Store. Users will need to enter their Instagram login information after downloading.
After logging in, users have the option to import film from their phone’s gallery or capture video from within the app. Users can edit audio, apply visual effects, rearrange clips, and chop chunks of film once it has been loaded into the timeline editor.
Videos can be exported and shared on a variety of social networking sites after editing is finished. According to Meta, Edits is a part of a larger initiative to give creators more tools without relying on third-party software.
Edits can be downloaded for free right now. All of the existing features are available for free, and no subscription is needed. Whether any upcoming features will be paid for or protected by a paywall has not been verified by Meta.
Writing when you have a word limit to stick to is stimulating and challenging at the same time. The leveraging character limit for your own good is simply at another level. And that’s the idea behind Twitter. This social media platform has revolutionized concise messaging through the concept of tweets.
News, views, reviews, and whatnot are exchanged on Twitter. Sports, politics, movie industry, social workers, businessmen, organizations, the ordinary public…nearly every class and kind of person could be found on Twitter. It’s hard to follow that favourite celeb of yours had it not been for Twitter. Twitter now X is social media platform founded by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, and Noah Glass
Jack Dorsey is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter. He is also the founder of Block, Inc. (Formerly Square). The net worth of Jack Dorsey is $4.1 billion, as of February 2025. Dorsey remained the CEO of Twitter till November 29, 2021, when he stepped down from the coveted position and was replaced by Parag Agrawal. Dorsey also resigned from Twitter’s Board of Directors on May 25th, 2022.
This StartupTalky article explores Jack Dorsey’s success story, including his early life, history, childhood, personal life, education, awards, net worth, and more.
Jack Dorsey Biography
Name
Jack Dorsey
Born
November 19, 1976
Place
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Nationality
American
Parents
Marcia Dorsey, Tim Dorsey
Education
Bishop DuBourg High School, Missouri University of Science and Technology, New York University
Known for
Co-Founder and Ex-CEO of Twitter, Co-Founder of Block, Inc.
Jack Patrick Dorsey was born on November 19, 1976, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Jack grew up in a middle-class Catholic family. He grew to be one of the most famous entrepreneurs alongside his brothers, Andrew and Dannie Dorsey. Tim Dorsey & Marcia Smith Dorsey are the parents of Jack Dorsey.
When Jack Dorsey was young, he was an observant kid who had a speech impediment. As a result, he normally stayed at home and developed a fascination for simplicity. An introvert in childhood, Jack overcame his shyness by participating in various oratory competitions. After many failed attempts, he overcame his fear of speaking in front of the public.
As a teenager, Dorsey loved spending time with computers. An early version of the IBM computer fascinated him and he spent hours, if not days, analyzing and understanding it. His ambition was to draw a live map of New York City, comprising several dots or legends that represented vehicles and landmarks.
Jack Dorsey – Education
Jack Dorsey attended Bishop DuBourg High School and after leaving high school, he enrolled in the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Missouri University of Science and Technology
He left after two years to pursue his dream of living in New York and joined New York University only to drop out in the final year to work on his idea of Twitter. His goal of creating the live map took over his academics but fate has its quirks.
During the summer of 1991, Jack Dorsey joined Mira Digital Publishing Company. A young Dorsey interrupted his boss in the middle of a project. Although his boss promised to talk to him within a minute, Jack didn’t get to speak to him. After the meeting, his boss saw him standing at the same spot. Jack had a thing for patience. He went on to lead a team of programmers in their thirties.
Jack Dorsey Young
Jack Dorsey – The Dot-Com Setback
Jack Dorsey got into the Dispatch Management Services Corp by hacking their security system and emailing the company’s manager, Greg Kidd, on how to patch the hack. He worked for the company for several years and worked for Greg Kidd’s project called dNet.com. However, the dot-com bubble destroyed the efforts that were put in for dNet.com, and Dorsey was left unemployed. His condition was so bad that he had to go for massage therapy courses.
Dorsey was then saved by Odeo Company, which specialized in internet startups. The company was headed by Evan Williams and faced a financial crisis and ideological difficulties amongst the employees.
Jack Dorsey – Launch of Twitter
Jack Dorsey created Twitter because he wanted to combine the SMS concept with an algorithm so that the would-be read only by the sender’s network. This was the only core logic behind Twitter. After two weeks, Dorsey and his friend came up with the iconic blue bird logo for Twitter.
Twitter Logo
The first tweet was done by Dorsey which read – “just setting up my twttr” (yes, twttr, and not Twitter). Twitter went public in the year 2006.
In the start, many people labelled the Twitter concept as “useless”. Even Williams was sceptical about its potential. It was a hard time since companies like Odeo, which supported young programmers to build their own companies, were not available to help Dorsey with his Twitter venture.
Naturally, there was a concern for funds to keep Twitter away from shuttering. However, the Twitter team soon found a scanned image of half a million dollars in its checkbox. A guy named Fred Wilson offered this cheque and was willing to work for Twitter as a strategic consultant. His plans assisted Twitter in building a global reach.
With time, Twitter cemented its place and the rapid developments in smartphone tech only bolstered Twitter’s growth. Twitter has around 2.2 billion visits per month at present. During the Southwest Film Festival in 2007, employees used multiple screens to show the facility of the real-time messages offered by Twitter. This helped increase the daily tweets count from twenty to sixty thousand.
In May 2008, the billionth tweet was posted. In the same year, the market capitalization of Twitter reached a whopping $1.5 billion. The market cap of Twitter was last recorded at $26.10 Billion in February 2022.
In October 2009, Twitter gained its first revenue of around $25 million. Google Inc. and Microsoft had a role to play in this deal. The deal was centred on the condition that Twitter messages would become visible to Google and Bing search engines. Later, Dorsey refused to work with Facebook.
In 2013, there was a 182% increase in Twitter’s shares. This was due to an increase in the stock’s value in IPO (the stock price was $26, but increased to more than $46 on the first day of trading). At present, 85% of the revenues come from online advertisements.
Jack Dorsey, being the brain behind one of the most popular social media platforms of our times makes him an iconic social media entrepreneur. Jack Dorsey is currently worth around $4.1 billion, as of February 2025 reports.
Jack Dorsey Net worth
Jack Dorsey – Exit From Twitter
Jack Dorsey served as the CEO of Twitter since he founded Twitter in 2006. However, he had to resign due to the alleged problems in the functioning of the platform and in the management of the company for which he was pushed out of his role by the board in 2008.
The genius, however, witnessed a Steve Jobs– style return to his home company as a CEO in 2015 and had finally opted to resign on November 29, 2021, when he left the office to give way to Parag Agrawal, who replaced him immediately the very same day.
Speaking about Agrawal, Dorsey has mentioned that firstly, he wants to stop Twitter to be an entity that is founder-led. Furthermore, he mentioned that his trust in him “is bone-deep”.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey said that he won’t be hanging there on the Board of Twitter for long. This is vital because he thinks that it is “important to give Parag the space he needs to lead”. Dorsey took to his homegrown platform to post his resignation letter, which reads:
Jack Patrick Dorsey quit the Twitter Board of Directors on May 25, 2021. Though he stepped down from being the Twitter CEO on November 29, 2021, he still remained aligned with the social media giant’s Board of Directors, however, he had already planned to leave the Board since he stepped down from the CEO position. Twitter is witnessing a visible change in its administration and is going through a major transformation since the days when Jack Dorsey stepped down. Now, Parag Agrawal is the CEO of Twitter, while Elon Musk is on the verge of acquiring the popular social media platform, which would bring in more change to follow.
Dorsey is now working on the development of Block, Inc. (Formerly Square). While Square still exists as one of the company’s main products, the company changed its name to Block on December 10, 2021.
Block Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, and is financial services and digital payments company founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey in 2009. The company Block derived its former name “Square” from its square-shaped card readers. Block is currently a public company that was registered on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2015.
Square, which is a payments platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses accept credit card payments and use tablet computers as payment registers for a point of sale system, is one of the core businesses of Block. Some other products/businesses of Block include:
Cash App – A mobile app that allows money transfers between users and businesses.
Afterpay – A buy-now-pay-later service of Block.
Weebly – Weebly is a website hosting service.
Tidal – Tidal offers audio and music videos to the users as a subscription-based music podcast and video streaming service.
In the year 2012, Starbucks invested $25 million in Square, Inc. The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz joined Square’s board and became one of the most important personalities on the board.
Jack Dorsey – Awards and Achievements
Jack Dorsey’s Major Achievements:
Co-founded Twitter and led its expansion into a global social media platform.
Founded Square (now Block), transforming mobile and digital payments.
Philanthropic contributions, supporting education, COVID-19 relief, and universal basic income.
Jack Dorsey’s Awards & Recognitions:
MIT Technology Review (2008): Named one of the Top 35 Innovators Under 35.
The Wall Street Journal (2012): Awarded Innovator of the Year in technology.
Crunchies Awards (2012): Honored as Founder of the Year at the 5th Annual Crunchies.
Jack Dorsey is an American entrepreneur best known for co-founding Twitter and founding Square (now Block). He played a key role in shaping social media and digital payments.
Where did Jack Patrick Dorsey go to high school?
Jack Dorsey went to Bishop DuBourg High School.
What is Jack Dorsey education?
Jack Dorsey attended Missouri University of Science and Technology and New York University, but he dropped out in his final year to work on Twitter.
Where was Jack Dorsey born?
Jack Patrick Dorsey was born on November 19, 1976, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
When did Jack Dorsey start Twitter?
Jack Dorsey started Twitter in 2006 and his first tweet was “just setting up my twttr”.
How did Jack Dorsey start Twitter?
When Odeo went out of business, Jack Dorsey started work on his idea where he wanted to combine the SMS concept with an algorithm so that the would-be read-only by the sender’s network.
Did Jack Dorsey graduate college?
No, Jack Dorsey dropped out first from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and after two years he transferred to the New York University but dropped out from there too to work on Twitter.
Did Jack Dorsey leave Twitter Board?
Yes, Jack Dorsey resigned from Twitter’s Board of Directors on May 25, 2022.
When did Jack Dorsey leave Twitter?
Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, stepped down from the Twitter CEO position On November 29, 2021, which brought Parag Agrawal as the new Twitter CEO. Furthermore, on May 25, 2022, Jack Dorsey left the Twitter Board of Directors, which was when Jack Dorsey left Twitter altogether.
Who are Jack Dorsey siblings?
Jack Patrick Dorsey has two brothers Daniel and Andrew.
Where did Jack Dorsey go to high school?
Jack Dorsey went to Bishop DuBourg High School.
How did Jack Dorsey start Twitter?
Jack Dorsey started Twitter in 2006 with Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. It began as an idea for a simple status-sharing platform. The first tweet was posted by Dorsey on March 21, 2006. Twitter quickly grew into a major social media platform.
What did Jack Dorsey invent?
Jack Dorsey co-invented Twitter (2006), a social media platform for short messages, and founded Square (now Block) (2009), a mobile payments company.
A restaurant’s success in today’s highly competitive meal delivery market depends on its ability to stand apart. To help its restaurant partners increase their visibility and client interaction, Swiggy, India’s leading on-demand convenience platform, has introduced a range of off-app marketing tools. Helping restaurants increase their visibility on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp is the goal of this offering, which is available to partners across India.
Through the use of influencer marketing, social media ads (Facebook and Instagram), and WhatsApp marketing, Swiggy’s new marketing offerings enable restaurant partners to enhance their online visibility. In order to increase traffic to their menu pages on Swiggy, restaurants can team up with prominent local food influencers and target Swiggy users with ads on Facebook and Instagram. You can obtain a better return on your ad spend with these strategies combined with hyper-local and behavioral targeting; they boost brand awareness and consumer engagement.
To survive in today’s competitive restaurant industry, players need more than simply delicious food. Through the integration of influencer marketing, social media, and WhatsApp with the capacity to recruit new users through the Swiggy platform, our new suite of marketing services assists brands in expanding their consumer base. According to Ajit Panigarhi, Swiggy’s AVP of Restaurant Marketing and Growth, “With this, we bring the combined power of social media and Swiggy even to the smallest of the restaurant partners to solve for restaurant growth.”
The New Marketing Service Will Act as a Catalyst for Restaurant Partners
Swiggy brings reliable influencers through verified agencies to developing brands, simplifying influencer marketing. Content generation and branding are managed by these agencies to reach highly relevant local Instagram users.
Better Instagram and Facebook advertisements allow restaurant partners to reach Swiggy customers and drive high-intent people to their menu pages.
Restaurants can now send Swiggy clients branded WhatsApp messages and app push notifications. During festivals and special events, this direct and personalized approach helps businesses stand out.
Building a Strong Restaurant Partner Ecosystem
As part of its mission to build an effective Restaurant Partner Ecosystem, Swiggy is launching this program to help businesses overcome the obstacles they encounter. An effort called “Staffing Support” was previously introduced by Swiggy to assist partners in hiring skilled workforce at their establishments. In addition, the company has also introduced licensing support to assist restaurants in obtaining or renewing licenses, including FSSAI, GST, and trademarks. Restaurants can now generate personalized marketing links for their campaigns using Swiggy’s new SmartLinks function, which increases engagement and traffic.
Across India, this program is presently operational. The Swiggy Owner app has an icon for Restaurant Services where interested restaurant partners can access this service.
The income tax (I-T) department has reportedly uncovered instances of tax evasion totaling around Rs 10,000 crore over three years, as per credible sources. The evasion is believed to have been perpetrated by online retailers marketing their products through social media channels like Instagram and Facebook. Notices have been issued to 45 brands operating nationwide, and it is anticipated that additional companies will receive similar notifications in the near future. These companies are alleged to have either neglected tax payments or provided inaccurate information regarding their incomes, according to insider information.
A high-ranking official, discussing the issue, shared insights with a publication, declaring, “Beyond significant eCommerce entities, we are actively overseeing operations on Instagram and Facebook, revealing a suspected evasion amounting to roughly Rs 10,000 crore.” Notifications from the Income Tax (I-T) department were sent out from the final week of October to November 15, covering evaluation periods from 2020 to 2022.
The report identifies the 45 companies involved in sectors such as apparel, jewelry, footwear, bags, and gift items. This roster comprises well-known retailers utilizing social media platforms for consumer outreach. Several of these companies, which received the I-T notices, were also involved in international product sales.
India boasts over 230 million active Instagram users, the highest globally, and more than 314 million Facebook users. Government sources assert that the 45 entities in question exhibit significant turnovers. An official elaborated on the sales activities of these companies, revealing, “They operate small shops and warehouses, primarily selling through Instagram, with turnovers exceeding Rs 110 crore, while their reported income tax returns were only Rs 2 crore.”
Following the impact of COVID-19, there was a noticeable upswing in the number of retailers utilizing these platforms, known for their substantial user engagement. The official noted that three Mumbai-based saree eTailers attracted the attention of the tax department after sponsoring a high-profile fashion show.
Most of the transactions involving these online retailers were conducted through UPI, facilitating the I-T department’s ability to trace these financial activities. Despite the increasing trend of individuals leveraging social media for retail purposes, such income often goes unreported, leading to the non-payment of taxes.
Social Commerce Surpasses Ecommerce Dominance in India
In 2022, the projected market size for social commerce in India stands at seven billion U.S. dollars, with expectations of an increase to 84 billion U.S. dollars by 2030. eCommerce has dominated the market for over a decade, leading to a discernible shift towards social commerce, which is poised for significant advancement.
Market Size of Social Commerce in India in 2019, With Forecasts From 2022 Until 2030
Social commerce involves the direct selling and purchasing of products or services through social media platforms, encompassing every aspect from product discovery to the entire checkout process, shaping a holistic shopping experience for consumers.
The prominence of social commerce is evident in the State of Social Media Investment Report, revealing that 77% of consumers are likely to favor enterprises offering a superior social media experience. Surprisingly, four-fifths of social media marketers anticipate consumers will increasingly buy directly from social apps rather than brand platforms or third-party eCommerce portals in 2023.
While many companies engage in sales through both eCommerce sites and social media handles, in India, the bulk of social commerce transactions are propelled by new brands and first-time entrepreneurs. With the continuous surge in social media users, brands are innovating strategies to convert captive audiences into customers.
Given that people spend an average of three hours daily online—engaging in activities such as posting, scrolling, viewing videos, and messaging—this presents a crucial window of opportunity for brands to target consumers through their marketing tools.
Unlike transactional buy-and-sell models, social commerce focuses on building a dedicated community around a brand. Brand development hinges on loyal fans or followers who praise and promote the brand, contributing to a robust community or consumer base in a short period. Social commerce differentiates itself by leveraging influencers for product marketing, fostering community creation efficiently.
The authenticity of feedback within social commerce is bolstered by a strong presence on social media and community connections, providing organic and genuine feedback. With its distinct advantages over traditional eCommerce methods, there is a growing global belief that social media represents the future of eCommerce.
The trajectory of social commerce indicates sustained growth in the years to come, driven by approximately 70% of the nation’s population actively using social media. Presently valued at $2 billion, industry analysts anticipate the social commerce market in India to grow at a CAGR of around 50 to 60% over the next five years.
In light of these statistics, it is evident that brands adept in social commerce are strategically investing time, money, and resources to enhance their success through this evolving platform. This increased success, however, has also attracted the attention of the income tax department.
A software-facilitated economy created on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify, Substack, OnlyFans, Tiki, and Patreon that allows creators and influencers to earn revenue is known as the Creator Economy.
As the internet evolved over the years, so did its use. The virtual universe of the world wide web became the home of not just users and consumers, but creators. Individuals turned producers managing their own brands. This resulted in revolutionizing the way content was produced, distributed, and consumed. And the Creator Economy came into being.
It was Paul Saffo from Stanford University who suggested that the creator economy came into being in 1997 as the ‘new economy’. Creators during that time were people who worked with animation and illustrations, although, with no discernible marketplace infrastructure to generate revenue. It was YouTube that coined the term ‘creator’ in 2011 that, at the time, applied to individuals who were famous on the platform. The term has rapidly gained popular acceptance and now applies to individuals who create online content. Hence, the creator economy is defined as an economic system built by independent content creators who are connected to their audience and businesses via the internet. The content created can be in the form of text, podcasts, music, videos, digital books, games, etc. This content can be monetized by sharing it on ad-sponsored platforms, partnering with brands, charging subscription fees, providing services, and much more. Some examples of content creators are TikTok stars Charlie D’Amelio, PewDiePie, and Addison Rae.
YouTube: The Birthplace of the Creator Economy
The Working
The umbrella of the creator economy covers an entire ecosystem encapsulating creators, consumers, advertisers, and other stakeholders that significantly affect the way content is created, distributed, consumed, and monetized. The stakeholders within this realm are –
1. Creators also known as infopreneurs who engage in creating various types of content on a variety of topics to build and engage their audiences and monetize their creations. These creators can be Vloggers or Bloggers who give information and advice on specialized topics, Entertainers using their skills of writing, creating music or expressing through other art forms, Guides and Experts sharing their knowledge on products or services and Celebrities who use their popularity to create content.
2. Consumers are the target audience of the creators who engage with them or follow their opinions for entertainment or information. Consumers also support creators monetarily through content subscription.
3. Platforms are used equally by the creators and consumers to engage with each other. These are third party facilitators that help creation, distribution, consumption and monetization of content. YouTube and Instagram are examples of such platforms.
4. Businesses advertise their wares and services through content creators. Partnering with influencers allows these businesses a direct access to their target audience. It also helps to make marketing campaigns effective. Influencers earn highly from brands through this partnership.
5. Tools are solutions that help the stakeholders to create and distribute content and also provide valuable performance insights to creators and businesses.
Business Models of Creator Economy
As new and emerging as this economy is, it has introduced innovative business models that has allowed successful career sustainability for creators. Off the many business models that have sprung around this economy, some commonly successful ones are –
1. Platform Revenue Sharing
As the most popular business model with the least barrier entry, it is used by creators who enjoy a significantly large following and want to diversify their earning sources. Creators monetize their content by earning a portion of the advertisement revenue that is generated from their channel pages and posts.
As the name suggests this commission earning based model helps both the creators to generate revenue and the businesses to generate credible leads. Through this business model, creators share coupon codes or special links that they receive. These are then tracked by the platform to ascertain if such leads have converted into actual sales.
3. Product Placement
This type of business model works on brand partnerships where creators and influencers are paid to use or feature brands and products in their content. Creators are remunerated for mentioning the products and services and providing website links in their content. Product Placement model is preferred by influencers who enjoy a large following as their fees per mention depends on their audience reach and penetration.
This model works on exclusive contracts between a business and the influencer. The influencer agrees to exclusively promote the business or brand by featuring it in their content.
5. Subscription
There are several platforms like Instagram that offer a subscription based business model. This entails viewers paying a subscription fee to watch exclusive content, live streams and videos which are otherwise not accessible. This type of business model presents a great opportunity for creators to grow their direct fan-to-creator revenue.
6. Self-Brand Offering
There are creators who also launch their own products and services including accessories, clothing lines, bags, purses, etc that helps them in generating revenue and establish their own separate business that is sustainable.
India & The Creator Economy
Between the years 2018 and 2022, startups within the creator economy in India have raised USD 2.5 billion and as per reports, it is growing at a CAGR of 25%. The main reasons behind its growth trajectory are flexible office hours, remote work and renewal of passion pursuits.
According to Tamseel Hussain of Livemint – “Doctors are joining the creator economy and creating shows on various health issues, farmers teaching other farmers organic farming through story telling or even brands enabling their own community members to share powerful stories instead of going to influencers.”
The driving indicators of the Indian creator economy’s growth potential are the fundamental changes in consumer behaviour, consumption patterns and the increasing number of first-time creators showcasing their talent.
Reiterating this Tamseel Hussain said – “The rise of affordable smartphones and internet-access packages, coupled with digital media, has made being a creator easier. The capacity of hungry audiences demanding a variety of content is also a massive driver. Today stories are everywhere, from social media platforms to televisions, OTT, offline screens and even food and shopping apps. This is changing the landscape for the creator economy, especially in smaller Indian towns and cities, by building new opportunities for creators and offering unique stories to people where they spend the most time.”
The already growing creator economy was, then, disrupted by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The severe lockdowns pushed imaginative boundaries as creators flocked the digital space showcasing a wide variety of talent and monetizing their content.
What is also fuelling its growth is the increasing penetration of digitization of the rural areas of the country. It is widening prospects that is ably supported by cutting-edge technology. The rapid expansion of the Tier II and Tier III cities of the country means that more than 100 million new creators are expected to join the creator community further adding to the growth of the creator economy.
Conclusion
The rapidly growing creator economy is also facing obstacles and challenges. However, the constant technology evolution is quickly answering those challenges making the future look very promising. The creator economy of India is set to scale with people able to generate revenue doing what they love and connecting with their roots. It will be interesting to watch how the evolution shapes in the coming years.
FAQs
What is the Creator Economy and how is it transforming the way people earn a living?
A software-facilitated economy created on social media platforms that allows creators and influencers to earn revenue, transforming the way people earn by providing opportunities for self-employment and income from a direct audience.
Who are the key players in the Creator Economy and how do they generate revenue?
The key players in the Creator Economy are creators and influencers who generate revenue through sponsored content, merchandise sales, and direct audience support such as tips, subscriptions, or paid memberships.
What are some popular platforms that are driving the Creator Economy, and what kind of content is most successful?
Popular platforms driving the Creator Economy include YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Patreon. Successful content includes video content, tutorials, lifestyle, and entertainment.
Affiliate marketing has always been an excellent way to monetize online traffic and earn a decent commission. Only the way people conduct affiliate marketing kept changing. If you have searched for ways to make passive income online, you must have come across affiliate marketing as a common suggestion.
It is a performance-based marketing tactic wherein affiliate marketers are given a commission(s) for every successful sale they make. The sale can be conducted through any medium, i.e., email marketing, ads, blogging, social media, etc.
Of all the mediums, social media opened massive avenues for affiliate marketing enthusiasts to begin their journey. Since social media platforms are free to join and easy to use, more people can try their hands at affiliate marketing. But is selling through social media channels this easy? Well, not really. You cannot expect to publish an affiliate link and expect people to buy from it.
You will have to create a social media plan, get the necessary tools, and be consistent with your effort to see any results. If you’re starting, you can follow some tried-and-tested methods discussed in this article. When executed correctly and consistently, the results can be impressive.
Affiliate marketing can be best defined as a Cost-Per-Action (CPA) affiliate model wherein affiliates (content creators) are given a commission for every successful sale by brands. Whether you’re an online content creator or a brand offering products/services, affiliate marketing creates a win-win situation for both.
As per the data shared by similarweb.com, affiliate marketing generates approximately 5% to 25% of the total online sales for some of the world’s biggest brands, so you know how powerful it is. You can earn a hefty commission(s) as a creator by successfully selling a brand’s products to your dedicated audience. On the other hand, brands can generate more sales by simply paying a percentage of sales to the approved affiliates.
So whether you’re looking forward to earning some extra passive income as a creator or want someone skilled to sell your products as a brand, affiliate marketing is the way in the future.
7 Ways to Use Social Media to Generate Affiliate Sales
The best part about affiliate marketing is that it can be done via any medium. Earlier, affiliates relied heavily on blogs and email marketing to promote affiliate products. But the advent of social media offered a newer and better avenue to attract and build a target audience.
As per Similarweb.com, 67% of affiliate marketers use social media as a tool to connect with their customers
If you combine the total number of social media users on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., the figure surpasses an astounding 4.5 billion mark as per the data shared by wearesocial.com. With so many people online, you cannot risk not leveraging social media platforms to your advantage. If you’re an affiliate marketer trying to get sales from social media platforms, the following tried-and-tested methods can help you get visible results.
Leverage Niche-Specific Groups
An Example- Yoga specific Facebook Group
Social media platforms like Facebook have countless groups created around particular interests. So if you’re promoting affiliate products in the yoga niche, look for groups built around yoga, health, wellness, and similar topics.
Joining such groups will give you instant access to people who would be interested in buying the products you’re promoting. If you’re in for a long-term game, ensure you don’t spam niche-specific groups.
It will only increase your likelihood of getting banned from the group. Instead, focus on delivering value to the people inside the group, and making sales will become much easier. You can check the next point to learn how to sell in social media groups without spamming and getting banned.
Emerge as the Community’s Influencer
An Example- Leah is a digital content creator as well as an affiliate marketer of beauty and health products
When it comes to online communities, you can either create one from scratch or join an existing community. The former option would easily require a lot of time, so you might consider joining an already well-established online community. Once you get approved in such communities, your focus should be on providing value around the topics related to your affiliate products.
Direct publishing of affiliate links will mostly lead you to a permanent ban from the group, so you should focus on establishing yourself as a trusted influencer. You can achieve this feat by consistently sharing helpful posts, assisting people through comments, etc.
Once people know you, start incorporating affiliate products in your posts and describe how they helped you. The more problems you solve for your target audience, the more sales you’ll make.
Be Consistent with the Delivery of Attention-Grabbing Content
It can be an extension of the previous point as both will touch lines with sharing highly relevant and helpful content. Whether you’ve decided to join niche-specific communities on Facebook or have planned to build an audience on your personal Twitter or Instagram profile, one thing will remain unchanged, i.e., the need to share helpful and attention-grabbing content.
A golden rule of affiliate marketing is one should never try to force sales. The affiliate should focus on solving the problems using an affiliate product, and sales will follow. You can do this by being consistent and creating niche-relevant content that is engaging, crisp, and attention-grabbing.
You can get better results if you can incorporate storytelling in your content pieces. Those starting can follow established affiliate marketers and replicate their content format. It can be altered as you advance.
Make Your Content More Visual & Engaging
An Example- The website bestrookbox.com is an amazon affiliate site with many engaging visuals
Good-quality images always catch people’s attention. Affiliate marketers who incorporate high-definition images in their content always receive better conversions.
You can include pictures of the product you’re promoting or add any other image related to the topic you’re talking about. Relevant images paired with attention-grabbing content always give the best results, so try it out.
If you’re a beginner and don’t know how to integrate images with ad copies or other text content, follow some Amazon or eBay affiliate marketers to study and understand how they do it. You can begin by replicating their process, but it should be customized as you advance.
Create Short URLs for Affiliate Products
Affiliate marketers should always use link-shortening services to make their work easier. Original links to affiliate offers are long and may look like spam to most. Always post shortened URLs online if you don’t want the URL structure and length to hinder your affiliate sales.
Whether you use Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social platform, attach links with your content that look short, neat, and professional. Bitly, Rebrandly, TinyURL, and Shor.io are some link-shortening services you can consider.
Promote Quality Offers
If you’re serious about earning from affiliate marketing, you should focus on finding and promoting offers or products that are highly relevant to your target audience. Selling junk products can get you sales in the short run, but it won’t be sustainable.
To become a good affiliate marketer, you should always search for quality affiliate offers that can sell like hotcakes on social media. You should never accept any random affiliate offer coming your way as a beginner, as it can affect your long-term goals.
Use Social Media Tools
Affiliate marketing can be arduous if you don’t have the right tools for the trade. For example, you may fail to come up with interesting content ideas for your social media profiles if you don’t have access to tools like Buzzsumo.
BuzzSumo Website
Capturing emails of people interested in your promoted offers can be challenging if you don’t have a good email capturer like OptinMonster. The market offers different tools to solve your affiliate market problems. This method can help you improve affiliate sales indirectly.
You just need to identify what you need and invest in those tools. For starters, you may consider getting click funnels or Unbounce landing page builders to hosting your offers. A chatbot like Mobilemonkey to actively engage with the audience and generate leads, bitly to shorten affiliate links, and email marketing software like convertkit to build your email list and promote your offers.
Social media provides ample opportunities for affiliate marketers to build a loyal audience and earn from it. But only a few manage to leverage it correctly. Whether you’ve just started your affiliate journey or are finding it challenging to make affiliate sales, following the methods discussed above will bring noticeable results.
Social Media Has Opened Floodgates of Opportunities for Affiliate Marketers
Promoting and selling products to a target audience online is not as simple as it seems. You will have to put in consistent efforts, give time, and invest in the right resources to start making serious income from affiliate marketing.
However, if you have little investment but can dedicate time to shaping your career as an affiliate marketer, social media platforms can help you greatly. These social media platforms have billions of people, so finding the right audience for your affiliate programs is no longer a challenge.
The above graph shows the daily active user count of multiple social media platforms as per the data showed by Google
But how you will attract your target audience, initiate a conversation, and make sales is what matters the most. There can be endless ways to use social media to your advantage, but you will have to start with a few proven methods.
To help make your journey easier, we’ve covered some practical and timeless ways to help you get started. Follow all the techniques for at least a few months to know what works best for you. With time, you will gain clarity, and you can also start experimenting with newer ways to close sales on social media.
Social media is not restricted to one use, instead, it has many potential ways to help in different tasks like lead generation, affiliate marketing, etc. Use social media for affiliate marketing, there are multiple ways one can prefer to take help form.
A complete guide on how to use social media platforms for affiliate marketing is given above with the addition of tool names where required. The guide also contains few examples of the methods and some basic tips over them.
FAQs
Which social media platform is best for affiliate marketing?
The universal social media platform that is almost used by everyone is Facebook. Hence, Facebook is considered the best option to choose for affiliate marketing.
Does Instagram allow affiliate marketing?
Yes, Instagram does allow affiliate marketing for the users with the only condition of being compatible with their terms and conditions.
What should a beginner do in affiliate marketing?
Being a beginner in the field of affiliate marketing one needs to start by considering the platform for the affiliate marketing followed by selecting a particular niche you might be interested in. The next step involves searching for better affiliate marketing options in your niche that you can, later on, add with quality content on your selected platforms.
How do I promote my affiliate link on social media platforms?
One can promote their affiliate link on social media platforms in multiple ways. Some of them are selecting the most popular social media platform in order to join the niche-related community, taking help from social media influencers or becoming one by self, keeping up with the available resources and quality-based offers, etc.
In Q2 2022, TikTok was once again the most downloaded app, marking the eighth time in the previous ten quarters that it has maintained the top spot. Since the start of 2020, only Zoom (Q2 2020) and Instagram (Q4 2021) have outperformed TikTok in a quarter.
As the biggest publisher of mobile apps, Meta maintained its position. In Q2 2022, Meta produced half of the top 10 apps, with Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp ranking among the top five. The most downloaded apps in 2022 are:
Surprisingly, an app that faced a lot of criticism is listed at the top in the lists of Overall downloads.
TikTok
In Q2 2022, TikTok was once again the most downloaded app, marking the eighth time in the previous ten quarters that it has maintained the top spot. Since the start of 2020, only Zoom (Q2 2020) and Instagram (Q4 2021) have outperformed TikTok in a quarter.
Instagram
For the fourth consecutive quarter in Q2 2022, Instagram was the most popular app in Asia, followed by Facebook, also owned by Meta. With approximately 65% of all Instagram installs in Asia occurring in India, Instagram is the most popular app in India.
Facebook
Facebook app is the world’s most popular social networking application. It is used almost everywhere for social and business communications. In Q2 2022, Facebook ousted TikTok from the top spot on Google Play in the United States.
WhatsApp
With more than 100 billion-plus downloads, WhatsApp is one of the most popular and widely used chat applications. WhatsApp also supports communication between international phone networks. WhatsApp moved up one spot to take the third-most installed spot in Europe.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a social networking and messaging app, the fifth most popular app in 2022. It allows users to send snaps in the form of pictures, videos, and emojis and chat with other Snapchat users. With 144.35 million users, India had the highest Snapchat user base worldwide as of April 2022. With almost 107 million Snapchat users, the United States placed second overall. It is popular among young people, especially those under the age of 16, which raises privacy issues for parents.
Telegram
Telegram, a cloud-based, cross-platform, encrypted instant messaging service, offers optional end-to-end encrypted video calling, VoIP, file sharing, and other services. Telegram crossed 500 million monthly active users in January 2021. As of the end of August 2021, it had received 1 billion downloads worldwide, making it the most downloaded app internationally in January 2021. The monthly active users on Telegram surpassed 700 million in June 2022.
Messenger
Messenger, a proprietary instant messaging app established by Meta Platforms to send messages, trade files, photographs, videos, stickers, audio, and other media, stands in the seventh position of most downloaded apps in 2022. Users can converse with bots and respond to messages sent by other users. The service also supports voice and video calling.
CapCut offers basic video editing features to help in capturing and snipping moments. Free in-app typefaces, effects, and cutting-edge capabilities like stabilization, chroma key, seamless slow-motion, and keyframe animation have all been alluring. CapCut exceeded 20 million downloads, delivering its highest quarter on the App Store since Q4 2019 in Asia.
WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp Business, standing in the ninth position in Q2 2022, targets small business owners dealing with a few client requests daily. It has a similar user design to the consumer WhatsApp app, with a few extra functions. For instance, businesses get a verified Business Profile. Small businesses can also set up Catalogs to promote and market their goods on the network.
Spotify
Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon founded Spotify, a privately held Swedish supplier of media services and audio streaming, on April 23, 2006. As of September 2022, it had over 456 million monthly active users, including 195 million paying subscribers, making it one of the biggest music streaming service providers.
**These estimates of the top 10 most downloaded apps in the world are as provided by Sensor Tower in Q2 2022. These estimates include unique installs and do not include pre-installed Apple and Google apps.
Every day a ton of new mobile apps are released, making it challenging to keep up with them all. It can be challenging to choose the best one, so if you plan to create your app, be sure to look at the most popular ones worldwide to get a sense of what products are most successful on the market.
The top five apps downloaded the most in 2022 across all stores and categories provide an overview of the general direction users were heading in at the time. The months following the global implementation of lockdown and shelter-at-home policies saw a dramatic increase in app downloads and popularity.
Mobile app and game developers have benefited from being digital even though many industries had to bear the brunt of financial and economic lapses caused by COVID-19. Compared to many other services, digital products are easily accessible and are not much impacted by physical limitations.
FAQs
Which is the most downloaded app in the world?
TikTok is the most downloaded app. It has more than 2 billion downloads worldwide.
Which is the most downloaded app in 2022?
In Q2 2022, TikTok was once again the most downloaded app, marking the eighth time in the previous ten quarters that it has maintained the top spot. Since the start of 2020, only Zoom (Q2 2020) and Instagram (Q4 2021) have outperformed TikTok in a quarter.
“Subway Surfers” is the most downloaded mobile game of the decade, with 1.8 billion downloads.
What were the most downloaded apps during the quarantine?
Aarogya Setu, Zoom, WhatsApp, TikTok, Ludo, Google Pay, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Youtube, and Snapchat.
Which is the most used app in the world in 2022?
With over 1 billion active users worldwide, TikTok has received the most downloads and is currently the most used app, closely followed by Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Facebook.
In the world of digitalisation, there are only a handful of people who are not on this social media platform, Facebook. Although the company, Facebook, began as a social network for particular college students, it has now evolved into an important tool for day-to-day socialising and business professionals.
As a small company owner, Facebook may be precisely what you need to find potential workers, get new clients, or see what your competitors are up to. And doing so – browsing content on Facebook– does not need creating your new Facebook profile.
Facebook is an American online social networking website owned by Meta Platforms. Mark Zuckerberg, along with other three Harvard University undergraduates, launched Facebook in 2004. Facebook is free to use, yet ads on the platform provider for the bulk of the gross profitability. Members may establish accounts, upload photos, join established communities, or start their own.
Facebook’s popularity stems in part from creator Mark Zuckerberg’s insistence from the beginning that members be truthful regarding who they really are, as phoney pages are just not permitted.
According to the company’s business, transparency is necessary for developing interpersonal relationships, exchanging information and recommendations, and strengthening society as a whole. It also noted that the bottom-up, peer-to-peer networking of Facebook users makes it easier for businesses to connect with customers about their services and goods.
Know more about the Meta-owned company, Facebook, and how it is helpful to us, its business model, startup story, and much more by reading this article further.
Facebook – Company Highlights
Startup Name
Facebook
Parent
Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook, Inc)
Headquarters
Menlo Park, CA
Industry
Social Media Platform
Founders
Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.
Facebook, a US-based online social media and social networking website is owned by Meta Platforms. The site’s features include Timeline or wall, a section on the user’s homepage where users can post content and friends can send messages, Status, which allows users to notify friends of their current location or set of circumstances, and News Feed, which notifies users of changes to their friends’ statuses and profiles.
Through Facebook, the users can communicate with one another and send and receive messages. Besides, they can also signal their approval for posts and comments on Facebook using the Like button, which can also be seen on many other websites.
In 2006, Facebook allowed anybody above the age of 13 to join, expanding its enrolment beyond students. Advertisers were able to develop new and successful consumer connections, just as Zuckerberg expected.
In October 2021, Facebook announced that its parent business will be renamed Meta Platforms. The name change signalled a shift in focus to the “metaverse,” an augmented reality realm in which people would participate. The Meta Platform now includes Facebook, the social networking platform.
Facebook – Industry
Customers can engage, produce, and share material and information through the social media market, which is made up of sales by entities (organizations, single traders, or partnerships). Social media platform users can exchange photos, videos, and audio clips.
This market generates revenue from advertising sales and other services provided through social networks. Advertising on social media and social media subscriptions are two different segments of the social media business.
The worldwide social media industry is predicted to increase at an annual pace (CAGR) of 39.7% from $159.68 billion in 2021 to $223.11 billion in 2022.
Businesses are reforming their operations and recovering from the effects of COVID-19, which had previously culminated in restrictive measures such as social distancing, the closure of commercial firms, and remote work, all of which caused operational challenges. Growing at a CAGR of 39%, the market is estimated to reach $833.50 billion in 2026.
With 46% of the global social media market in 2020, Asia Pacific was the most important region. The 2nd-largest area, North America, accounted for 32% of the worldwide market. Africa was identified as the fastest-growing region in the social media market between 2020-2021.
Facebook – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Facebook Logo
According to David Kirkpatrick’s book The Facebook Effect, the name Facebook was picked because every Harvard student was given one of these, which held images of their classmates and were referred to as Facebook.
A majority of the American university students received face book directories, which consisted of individuals’ names and photos and were distributed among the university students to help them know each other. This is where the name “Facebook” came from, the sole aim of which is to connect people with their friends and family via its social media platform. The small F sign on Facebook’s site is considered to represent the name Facebook.
Facebook’s tagline used to be, “It’s Free and Always Will be” which was changed to, “It’s Quick and Easy.” It was changed silently between 6th and 7th August 2019, and Facebook didn’t clarify the reason why.
Facebook – Founders and Team
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.
Co-founder and current CEO of Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is an American businessman, media personality, and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Meta Platforms, Inc. (previously called Facebook, Inc.), where he currently serves as chairman, CEO, and dominant shareholder. He is also a co-founder and board member of Breakthrough Starshot, a solar sail spacecraft development initiative.
Andrew McCollum
Andrew McCollum joined Philo, an entertainment-focused OTT streaming service, as CEO in 2014. Philo debuted countrywide in November 2017. Andrew was on Philo’s board of directors, supervised the company’s co-founders, and was one of the company’s early investors before becoming CEO.
Andrew was a member of the founding team of Facebook before joining Philo, and he has a long-standing interest in the social design of products. Following Facebook, Andrew worked as an Entrepreneur in Residence at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Flybridge Partners, two of Philo’s investors. He is still an active angel investor and counsellor in the early stages of a company’s development.
Chris Hughes
Chris Hughes (November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded and served as spokesperson for the online social networking and directory site Facebook with his Harvard companions. He was the editor-in-chief and publisher of The New Republic from 2012 until 2016. As of 2019, Hughes is a co-chair of the Economic Security Project.
Dustin Moskovitz
Dustin Moskovitz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Asana. He co-founded Good Ventures and the Open Philanthropy Project. He is also one of the co-founders of Facebook.
Eduardo Saverin
Eduardo Saverin is a B Capital Group co-founder and partner. Saverin is a co-founder of Facebook and the initial investor. Saverin is eager to put money into the next wave of technical developments. He has counselled and worked closely with an array of firms of different kinds and stages as a technology investor and supervisor, all of which share one consistent theme: a love for people-centric technology, as well as a mobile platform lean with pan-global ambitions.
The Facebook team last registered 71,970 full-time employees in December 2021.
Facebook – Startup Story
Facebook, a social networking website, was established on October 28, 2003, as “FaceMash” before rebranding as “The Facebook” on February 4, 2004. It was established by Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard University classmates. The website’s designers initially limited membership to Harvard students.
Nonetheless, it was gradually expanded to include additional Boston-area colleges, the Ivy League, and finally most universities in the United States and Canada, businesses, and, by September 2006, everyone over the age of 13 with a valid email account.
In September 2004, the Wall was added to a Facebook user’s online profile. This widely used feature allowed a user’s friends to post information to their Facebook wall, and it rapidly became an important part of the social aspect of the network. Facebook had gained one million active members by the end of 2004. However, the firm was still lagging behind Myspace, the top online social network at that time, with five million users. Nevertheless, in the long run, MySpace failed to compete against Facebook.
2005 was a momentous occasion for the company. It was then that the idea of “tagging” people in photographs posted to the site was born. Tags were used to identify themselves and others in photos that were viewable to other Facebook friends. Facebook users can upload an unlimited amount of photos but the facial recognition feature of Facebook, which tagged the persons on the photograph earlier, is not there anymore now.
Outside of the United States, high school and university students were allowed to join the ‘Facebook army’ in 2005. By the end of that year, it had six million monthly active users.
Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.
Based on the company’s social media service offerings, Facebook’s corporate vision statement is “People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, discover what’s going on in the world, and share and express what matters to them.”
This corporate vision demonstrates that the company is more than just an online social networking service. Rather, the firm aids in the gathering of information and meaningful dialogue among individual customers.
Facebook – Business Model and Revenue Model
Facebook makes money largely through showing commercials from businesses on its Facebook and Instagram apps. Ads contributed to 98% of Facebook’s $86 billion revenue in 2020. The remaining 2% of profits came mostly from Oculus and Portal device sales, as well as development payment fees.
Facebook’s business strategy is centred on providing its products and technologies to billions of users for free and then generating money by enabling businesses to show advertisements to Facebook’s consumers. Advertisers pay Facebook auction-based pricing depending on supply and demand.
This implies that the individuals who consume Facebook’s services (users) aren’t the people who are paying for them. Small companies who advertise on Facebook’s collection of applications are the real clients. With the launch of Facebook Shops, the initial iteration of Facebook’s e-commerce capabilities, the company’s focus on small companies became much more obvious.
Notwithstanding its history and present problems, Facebook is doing incredibly well. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, sales increased by 22% to $86 billion in 2020. It had a profit margin of 38% and a net income of $29 billion.
Facebook – Funding and Investors
Facebook raised a total of 16 funding rounds to date, as of July 12, 2022, which helped the organisation raise over $16 bn. Here’s a look at the Facebook funding table:
Date
Round
Amount
Lead Investors
Oct 20, 2014
Post-IPO-Equity
$13.8B
–
May 10, 2011
Secondary Market
–
–
Mar 4, 2011
Private Equity Round
–
–
Jan 21, 2011
Private Equity Round
$1.5B
DST Global, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners
Jan 1, 2011
Secondary Market
–
–
Jun 28, 2010
Secondary Market
$120M
Elevation Partners
May 26, 2009
Series D
$200M
DST Global
May 1, 2008
Debt Financing
$100M
TriplePoint Capital
Mar 27, 2008
Series C
$60M
Horizons Ventures
Jan 15, 2008
Series C
$15M
Global Founders Capital
The Facebook investors include Elevation Partners, DST Global, Horizons Ventures, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and more.
Facebook – Investments
Facebook has made 44+ investments in total to date, as of July 12, 2022. Here’s diving into the most recent Facebook investments:
Date
Organization Name
Round
Amount
May 27, 2022
OlaClick (YC W21)
Seed Round
$4.4M
May 4, 2022
Ami
Seed Round
$3M
April 6, 2022
VerSe Innovation
Series J
$805M
Jan 1, 2022
PlayCo
Corporate Round
$40M
Nov 8, 2021
Inworld AI
Seed Round
$7M
Oct 5, 2021
echo3D
Series A
$4M
Sep 30, 2021
Meesho
Series F
$570M
Aug 3, 2021
Formaloo
Grant
–
Jul 5, 2021
Helpmum
Grant
$55K
May 3, 2021
Obviously AI
Seed Round
$3.7M
Apr 5, 2021
Meesho
Series E
$300M
Jan 1, 2021
FEMCA Financial Services
Pre-Seed Round
–
Dec 24, 2020
ArtyOwl.com
Grant
₹100K
Dec 4, 2020
Com Olho
Grant
–
Facebook – Acquisitions
Facebook has acquired a total of 95+ companies to date. The last acquisition of Facebook is presize.ai, which the company acquired on April 14, 2022.
Here’s a look at some of the recently acquired companies of Facebook:
Acquiree Name
About Acquiree
Date
Amount
presize.ai
Presize is a Germany-based company that is fuelled by the Computer Vision and Deep Learning technologies to develop the most accurate body scanning software
Apr 14, 2022
–
ImagineOptix
ImagineOptix is a US-based company that manufactures optical thin films to help the production of small, affordable, battery-efficient video projectors
Dec 21, 2021
–
Within (VR/AR)
Within is a virtual reality and augmented reality media and technology company.
Oct 29, 2021
–
AI.Reverie
A leading provider of synthetic data to train machine learning algorithms.
Oct 12, 2021
–
Unit 2 Games
Unit 2 Games is a game creation and sharing platform designed to develop video games
Jun 4, 2021
–
Kustomer
Kustomer is an omnichannel Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) CRM platform specializing in customer service
Nov 30, 2020
$1B
Lemnis Technologies
We set a new standard for visual fidelity in VR/AR head-mounted displays, opening new opportunities for professional users.
Sep 22, 2020
–
Mapillary
Mapillary has built a street-level imagery platform that uses photos which have been uploaded by members of the public.
Jun 18, 2020
–
Giphy
Giphy is an online database and search engine that allows users to search, share, and discover GIFs.
May 15, 2020
$400M
Sanzaru Games
Sanzaru Games is an independent console video game development studio.
Feb 25, 2020
–
Scape Technologies
Scape is a computer vision startup, building the localization engine for city-scale augmented reality.
Feb 9, 2020
–
Packagd
Packagd is a series of app that offers new mobile shopping experience.
Dec 20, 2019
–
Facebook – Growth
Facebook is the most popular social media network in the world, with 2.91 billion active monthly users as of the fourth quarter of 2021, which went up to become 2.93 bn in Q1 of FY22. Here’s a look at the rise of Facebook’s monthly active users.
Facebook’s Growth of Monthly Active Users
The number of registered Facebook members topped 1 billion in the third quarter of 2012, making it the first social networking service to accomplish so. In the first quarter of 2021, the company said that 3.51 billion people used at least one of its key platforms on a monthly basis (Facebook, Whatsapp, Messenger, or Instagram).
Facebook initially began with only 150 people working with the same firm back in 2006. This rose and rose over the years, and was last registered with 71,970 full-time employees in December 2021.
What’s Facebook Changing to Ramp up Growth?
Facebook and Instagram both will see some changes, and many of these changes will be inclined towards altering the process of how Facebook and Instagram users share posts and videos. On this, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the platforms will make it easier for the users to control what they “see and discover on Facebook.” Here are some of the proposed changes that will take place:
Feeds will be introduced as a new tab. This will help the users see the most recent posts from their friends, groups, and Pages.
A Favourites list can be curated of the friends and Pages the users care about.
The first thing that the users will now see is Home.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook is on a mission to change the way it shows its users’ posts and videos in order to enable the users to watch content from accounts that they don’t already follow. This will, thus, help the Meta flagship product, Facebook to better compete with viral video app TikTok.
Facebook’s Annual Revenue :
Year
Revenue
2010
$1.97 billion
2011
$3.71 billion
2012
$5.08 billion
2013
$7.87 billion
2014
$12.4 billion
2015
$17.9 billion
2016
$27.6 billion
2017
$40.6 billion
2018
$55.8 billion
2019
$70.6 billion
2020
$85.9 billion
The revenue of Fb in Q3 2021 was registered at $29.01 bn, which included $28.27 bn in ad revenues and $734 mn worth of other revenue.
Facebook Begins Testing Ethereum and Polygon NFTs on Profiles
Facebook announced that it has already started rolling out NFTs for some of the American creators in a report dated July 1, 2022. A spokesperson of the social media giant mentioned that the platform has started initially with NFTs on Ethereum and Polygon and will eventually add support for NFTs on Solana and Flow as well.
According to a post by Meta Product Manager Navdeep Singh, the users’ Facebook profiles will have a “digital collectibles area”, where they can display their NFTs, which are special blockchain tokens representing ownership. Singh also mentioned that the users will also be able to link their Facebook profiles to their bitcoin wallets. Also, they will have the option to convert their NFTs into Facebook posts that may then be shared, liked, commented on, and responded to, just like any other Facebook post.
Here’s the first look shared by Navdeep:
Facebook NFTs
Face Recognition Shutdown
Face recognition will be phased out of Facebook’s social network, as announced by the company in November 2021. Its use will be limited across all products, and over a billion saved faces will be deleted, according to Meta, Facebook’s newly formed parent company.
According to a blog post by Meta’s VP of artificial intelligence, Jerome Pesenti, the action will destroy over a billion saved faces in the following weeks. The removal of such a large database signal that Meta would limit the use of facial recognition in its planned “metaverse” projects, which will involve actual people interacting in vast virtual settings, including game environments, at least initially.
“The many specific instances where facial recognition can be helpful need to be weighed against growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole,” wrote Pesenti. “There are many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society, and regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use,” he said. “Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.”
Facebook – Competitors
The top competitors of Facebook are technology giants like:
The prominence and magnitude of Facebook have prompted condemnation from a variety of quarters. Internet privacy, its face recognition software, excessive data retention, DeepFace’s addictive nature, and its function in the workplace, including access to employee accounts by employers, are all challenges.
Facebook has been chastised for its consumption of electricity, tax evasion, real-name user verification regulations, censorship, and participation in the US PRISM surveillance program.
Users of Facebook are said to have negative psychological impacts such as jealousy and tension, a lack of focus, and social media addiction. Facebook has been slammed for enabling users to post obscene or illegal content. Copyright and intellectual property infringement, hate speech, rape, terrorist incitement, fake news, crimes, murders, and live-streaming violent situations are among the specifics.
Sri Lanka suspended both WhatsApp and Facebook in May 2019 as a temporary fix to restore peace following anti-Muslim violence, the worst in the country since the Easter Sunday attack the preceding year. Between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, Facebook removed 3 billion fake accounts, bringing the total number of monthly active users to 2.39 billion.
The company said in late July 2019 that the Federal Trade Commission was investigating it for antitrust breaches.
Facebook Layoffs
Facebook is looking to lay off employees and has already asked the process managers to identify the low-performing employees and move them to exit, as per reports dated July 15, 2022. The company has been reportedly struggling with macroeconomic pressures and incurred hits to its advertising business.
Facebook Parent Meta Faces Trademark Lawsuit
Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook has been hit by a trademark lawsuit filed by Meta X LLC., a virtual reality-based company, in Manhattan federal court, as of the reports dated July 26, 2022. MetaX alleged that the Facebook owner (earlier Facebook, Inc.), which is now renamed Meta Platforms Inc., has stolen its name since its pivot to metaverse. MetaX also reported that Meta has infringed its federal “Meta” trademarks.
Following the renaming of Facebook as ‘Meta,’ the firm will be “metaverse first,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which means you won’t need a Facebook account to access other Meta products in the future.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.”
It also suggests that the company would divide its activities into two segments: one for its future platform efforts (Reality Labs is going to be the tag for that segment) and another for its app family.
Whilst expanding their social networking applications will remain a priority, he believes that the company’s identity will become less tied to a single product/ service over time.
In short, the metaverse will be an embodiment of the internet, according to Zuckerberg, who believes it will be the next integrated virtual media to emerge after video (which evolved from photos and texts).
Rather than staring at a screen, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in these activities. That’s most probably to be accomplished through instilling a strong sense of presence in a shared environment, which would be the metaverse’s distinguishing characteristic. This will demand hardware from the firm, such as the Oculus Quest 2 or others.
The firm is thinking about offering incentives to developers and new users to join. To boost adoption, these alternatives include cutting costs, subsidizing gadgets, or selling them at a loss.
It’s crucial to stress, though, that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s visions is far from complete. Currently, just the fundamental building pieces work, according to Zuckerberg. In the end, technological obstacles remain—compressing augmented reality technology and sophisticated computers into a pair of spectacles, for example, is a difficult task.
Although Zuckerberg vows to encourage security and privacy on this new “social technology” network in a founder’s letter, it remains to be seen if he can persuade people to use it, particularly younger generations who have been abandoning Facebook. Many people question if a new interface would simply reintroduce the same old issues.
FAQs
What does Facebook do?
Facebook is an American online social networking website owned by Meta Platforms.
Who founded Facebook?
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.
When was Facebook founded?
Facebook was founded in the year 2004.
How does Facebook make money?
Facebook makes money primarily by showing advertisements from businesses on its Instagram and Facebook apps.
Which companies do Facebook compete with?
The top 10 competitors in Facebook’s competitive set are:
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved byInstagram.
With a focus on sharing photographs and videos, Instagram is a well-known social media software. Since its launch in 2010, it has grown in popularity by including cutting-edge new features like Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels, shopping, and others.
Everyone who registers for an Instagram account has an account and a news feed, much as on Twitter or Facebook. It appears on the account when you upload a picture or a clip to Instagram. Your updates appear in the feeds of other people who follow you. You also receive updates from persons you follow.
Similar to other social media platforms, you may communicate with other users by following them, allowing others to follow you, commenting and liking their posts, tagging, and sending private messages. Furthermore, photos uploaded on Instagram can be saved.
There is a lot to learn about Instagram, so here is some helpful information to help you know more about this social networking platform.
In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched Instagram, a social media platform for sharing photos and videos. Facebook Inc. eventually purchased Instagram.
Users of the app may upload media that can be altered using filters, arranged by hashtags, and categorised by location. Public or pre-approved followers may share posts. Users may examine trending information, like photographs, follow other users to add their data to a personal feed and browse other users’ content by tag and location.
When Instagram first launched, it set itself apart by restricting content framing to a square (1:1) aspect ratio of 640 pixels, which matched the width of the iPhone’s display at the time.
With an upgrade to 1080 pixels in 2015, these limitations were loosened. Additionally, it included messaging capabilities, the ability to upload multiple photographs or videos, and a feature called Stories that was comparable to Snapchat’s major rival and let users publish information to a feed that was sequential and viewable by others for a 24-hour period. 500 million people a day are using Stories as of January 2019.
In the Instagram space, “handle” is a phrase for “username” or “account name.” The name of an Instagram account is what is meant when someone mentions an “Instagram handle.”
Instagram – Industry
Users of social media can exchange images, videos, and audio files. Revenues from advertising and sales of other services provided on social media platforms are included in this market. At a compound annual growth rate of 39.7%, the size of the worldwide social media industry is anticipated to increase from $159.68 billion in 2021 to $223.11 billion in 2022.
The companies’ reorganisation of operations and recovery from the COVID-19 impact, which had previously resulted in restrictive containment measures involving social estrangement, remote work, and the closure of commercial activities that created operational challenges, are primarily responsible for the growth. At a CAGR of 39%, the market is anticipated to reach $833.50 billion in 2026.
44% of users use Instagram on a weekly basis to shop utilising features like the Shop tag, according to findings from an Instagram for a business study conducted in 2022.
To enable direct transactions within their platforms, other social media businesses like Snapchat and Twitter have also incorporated shopping ads. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, and LinkedIn are significant players in the social media sector.
Instagram Revenue
Instagram – Founders
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger introduced the Instagram app on October 6, 2010. In just one day, the software attracted 25,000 users.
Kevin Systrom
Kevin Systrom, Instagram Founder
American computer programmer and businessman, Kevin Systrom, was born on December 30, 1983, in Holliston, Massachusetts. Systrom learned how to code while he was a student at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts.
On the 2016 list of America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 was Systrom. As of September 2017, Instagram had 800 million monthly users and was experiencing rapid growth under Systrom’s leadership. On September 24, 2018, he handed in his notice as Instagram’s CEO.
Mike Krieger
Brazilian-American businessman and software engineer Miachel Krieger (born March 4, 1986) worked as Instagram’s CTO and co-founded the social media platform with Kevin Systrom.
Krieger relocated to California in 2004 to attend Stanford University after being born in So Paulo, Brazil. He met Kevin Systrom while studying symbolic systems at Stanford. While Krieger was CTO, Instagram grew from a few million users to 1 billion active monthly users. Krieger and Systrom’s resignation from Instagram was announced on September 24, 2018.
Instagram – Startup Story
A recent Stanford University graduate, Kevin Systrom was employed by the travel advice business Nextstop in 2009. Systrom had previously interned at Odeo, a business that would ultimately become Twitter, and served as a corporate development associate at Google.
While working at Nextstop, Systrom learnt to code on the side because he had no professional experience in computer science. In the end, he created a web app prototype named Burbn, which was influenced by his preference for premium whiskey and bourbon.
Users of the Burbn app may check in, share their activities, and exchange pictures. Even while location-based check-in applications were relatively common at the time, Burbn’s photo-sharing function stood out.
A pivotal moment occurred in March 2010, when Systrom went to a party for Hunch, a Silicon Valley-based business. Two venture investors from Baseline Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz were introduced to Systrom at the event.
They agreed to meet for coffee to continue their conversation after he demonstrated the app’s prototype to them. Systrom made the decision to leave his job and concentrate on Burbn after their initial encounter. Within two weeks, he had secured $500,000 in initial money for his business endeavour from Baseline Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
Systrom was able to begin recruiting a team to support his endeavour thanks to this initial investment; the first person to do so was 25-year-old Mike Krieger.
After Krieger joined, the two reevaluated Burbn and chose to concentrate mostly on images acquired particularly with mobile devices. The Hipstamatic app caught the attention of Krieger and Systrom due to its popularity and intriguing features that could be applied to photos, such as filters.
Systrom and Krieger recognised possibilities in creating an app that connected Hipstamatic and social media sites like Facebook because it lacked social media-sharing features.
Burbn was reduced to only its photo, commenting, and “liking” features as a step backwards. They changed the name of their programme to Instagram at that moment, fusing the phrases “instant” and “telegram.” They also started concentrating on enhancing the photo-sharing process.
The software was created with the idea of being simple and requiring as little user interaction as possible. They distributed the app to pals for beta testing and performance evaluation after eight weeks of finalising it. They brought the software to launch after fixing several bugs.
Instagram – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Burbn, a web application that served as the initial version of Instagram, was motivated by Kevin Systrom’s passion for premium bourbons and whiskeys.
They refocused their app on photo-sharing, which had grown in popularity among its users, after realising that it was too similar to Foursquare. They gave it a new name—Instagram, a combination of the words “instant camera” and “telegram.”
Instagram Logo
The contemporary curved square and circle continue to stand in for the vintage Polaroid camera as the logo of Instagram. This Instagram logo represents attentiveness, experiences, youth, and nostalgia.
The slogan of Instagram is “Capture and Share the World’s Moments,” and that is exactly what it is all about.
Instagram – Vision and Mission
Instagram’s vision statement says, “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
Instagram’s mission statement is, “to capture and share the world’s moments.”
Instagram’s business structure is dependent on the variety of tools and features it provides, which include:
Stories – Using this tool, users may share films and photographs for a full day. The shared content vanishes after 24 hours. Using this capability, anyone may also go live.
Pictures – The primary function of Instagram is taking pictures and sharing them across many networks.
Videos – Instagram began as a simple photo-sharing software. Later, users were able to post films up to 60 seconds long.
Filters – Instagram users may edit their photographs using a variety of filters available on the platform.
Explore Tab – Instagram users may find anything and anything utilising the Explore tab. To find what they’re looking for, people can utilise hashtags and usernames. In addition, customers may just click the tab to view the featured material. Additionally, they may view recent activity from the persons they follow.
Instagram Direct – Instagram Direct enables users to speak with their followers while sharing photographs and videos. Requests for messages can also be sent to those who are not following you.
Instagram – Business Model
Instagram’s primary revenue sources include online advertising, Instagram shopping, and creator tools.
Advertising
Instagram’s oldest and main revenue source is digital advertising. Instagram freely displays advertisements across the stories, feed, Explore Tab, IGTV, and Reels. The advertisements are available in a variety of forms, including photos, videos, carousels, collections, and shopping advertising.
Instagram Shopping
Instagram originally introduced Shoppable posts at the tail end of 2016, allowing businesses to tag items in posts just the way users tag friends. Shoppable posts reduced friction in the purchasing process by assisting consumers in learning about and evaluating the purchase loop. However, they were routed to the brand’s website to complete the transaction.
Instagram would receive a portion of the transaction in exchange for less friction and higher conversions, much like an affiliate. Instagram expanded the functionality of Shoppable posts in March 2019 by enabling users to complete their purchases directly from the Instagram app, thereby decreasing the friction associated with the purchasing process. Instagram charges businesses a fee, just like the Shoppable posts feature.
Creator’s Tool
Content is the foundation of user participation and development, while creators are the vital element of content. Therefore, if an application relies on user-generated content, paying users to create content might encourage them to create more material and do so more frequently.
In addition to sharing ad income, Instagram allows artists to earn money via badges, which fans can use to support a creator during a live broadcast.
During a live stream, individuals who buy badges get a heart icon next to their name in the comments. During the live session, queries posed by users who have purchased badges are emphasised. Instagram doesn’t take a commission of the money earned through badge sales. Instead, creators get their whole share.
Instagram – Acquisition By Facebook or Meta
Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for an extraordinary $1 billion amount. Instagram had only 25 million registered users at the time of the purchase, a meagre number when compared to Facebook’s hundreds of millions of users. Instagram was still expanding quickly. Additionally, Instagram was just two years old, operated by 13 people, and did not generate any profit.
Even Twitter had tried its hand at pursuing Instagram before Facebook sealed the deal. But the founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger chose to continue working with Facebook since, in addition to the enormous monetary base, Zukerberg offered them independence.
In exchange for accepting Facebook’s offer to buy it, Instagram would be given the freedom to continue operating as an independent business in addition to avoiding the Facebook threat and gaining access to Facebook’s engineering resources. The independence would soon fade, though, and was a major factor in both of the founders of Instagram leaving Facebook.
Instagram’s growth path to 1 billion+ monthly active users is intertwined with the gradual loss of founders’ freedom.
Luma (formerly Midnox) allows you to record and share beautiful HD videos with real-time video stabilization, filters and zoom.
Aug 23, 2013
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Instagram – Competitors
Top competitors of Instagram are :
Twitter
Snapchat
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Quora
Tiktok
Vine
Triller
Instagram – Future Plans
Instagram wants to put more emphasis on reels and videos, freedom and power. The photo-sharing app wants to provide Better features for shopping. The app is focusing on technology that completes search that goes beyond usernames and hashtags and put emphasis on Instagram is maintained. The app is also planning on additions to the AR filters for Instagram stories.
Instagram – FAQs
Who is the founder of Instagram?
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger founded Instagram in 2010.
What is the revenue of Instagram?
Instagram generated an estimated revenue of $47.6 billion in 2021.
When was Instagram acquired by Facebook?
In April 2012, Facebook Inc. acquired Instagram for approximately $1 billion.
What is the valuation of Instagram?
Instagram is estimated to be valued at over $100 billion.
