Facebook caused quite the stir when it announced plans to purchase Instagram, the vast photo sharing network that’s most famous for its dazzling array of image filters. Just as when Instagram expanded beyond iOS and onto Android, many users and commentators overreacted in the most cringeworthy ways to the Facebook acquisition, with some predicting the end of Instagram as we know it, while others mocked the $1bn purchase price as being a gargantuan waste for what was clearly a fad that had already peaked.
Ultimately, Facebook paid $715m for it (as Facebook’s declining share price hit the overall value of the deal), but Instagram has continued to go from strength to strength, with no hint that consumers are tiring of making their beautiful photos look old and crappy. It’s not surprising, then, that Twitter has been looking on at these events with somewhat jealous eyes.
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Instagram's huge popularity is the driving force behind Twitter's planned new photo filters
It’s perhaps even less of a shock to learn, via The New York Times, that Twitter is planning to integrate its own Instagram-style image filters within its mobile apps. Twitter already sees significant volumes of Instagram photos being shared on its network and, to put it simply, it would prefer to cut out the middle man, enabling users to bypass Instagram by adding visual effects to their photos directly from the Twitter app itself.
The new features are expected to be added to Twitter’s mobile apps “in the coming months”, and further additions are already being discussed. One feature likely to be added soon is the ability to upload videos directly to Twitter, circumventing third-party video services such as YouTube and Vimeo.
Source: Bits at The New York Times | Image via Electric Pig
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