Instagram Gains New Users despite Changes in TOS

Image Source: http://mashable.com/

Despite the controversy in the changes made to terms of service (TOS), photo-sharing network Instagram revealed that it has gained new users. This was revealed when the company issued a statement last January 17. In its very first monthly user data revelation, Instagram said that they now have 90 million active users per month – a figure that’s 10% higher than last month’s.

In a statement made to AllThingsD, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom said that “Instagram continues to see very strong growth around the world.”

“With many of the product and internationalization improvements we’ve made, we’ve been excited to see these efforts resonate with users globally,” Systrom added.

This may come as good news to Instagram since it’s been under a lot of controversy. Ever since it made some changes to its TOS,many users found the change to be either incredulous or downright ridiculous. Facebook bought the photo-sharing site for $1 billion reportedly in an effort to give Facebook a needed “facelift”. Some even went to speculate that Facebook didn’t want another bidder like Google to get it first.

There are, however, some cynics with Instagram’s reports, especially with the timing. Instagram’s release of its monthly active user data comes after reports of user revolt have been made. Furthermore, the release of data was made 2 days before its updated TOS comes into effect.

If you’re using Instagram on your personal or business phone, you’ve probably received a reminder in your e-mail in which Instagram says its “updated policies will be in effect as of January 19th, 2013”. The e-mail further states that the “policies also now take into account the feedback we received from the Instagram Community”.