Instagram’s Popularity:
Instagram was one of the most popular social media platforms in the world as of October 2021, particularly among young folks. In June 2018, the platform reported a monthly active user base of one billion people. Instagram is a prominent social media network where users may share photos and videos, including trip photos, as well as keep up with their favourite athletes and celebrities.
Instagram's Popularity in India:
According to a recent report released, Instagram has emerged as the most popular social networking platform among Indian youth, while YouTube has gotten the most attention due to the pandemic, with 98% of those polled installing it in their phones, followed by Netflix and Amazon Prime.
With more than 201 million users accessing the photo and video sharing and editing app, India was the largest country in terms of Instagram audience size in October 2021. With almost 157 million users, the United States was next. With around 115 million Instagram users, Brazil came in third place, ahead of Indonesia, which had 94 million.
Despite the limited sample size (1154 respondents), the Youth Online Learning Organization (YOLO) analysis found that over 80% of those who went online used social media.
70% chose Instagram, while 20% chose Facebook.
It also raised issues and obstacles associated with utilizing the Internet, such as a lack of understanding of how to use the internet healthily and responsibly.
Nearly a third of those polled admitted to using the Internet to share sensitive information.
The majority of those polled were under the age of 18 and used cell phones to access the internet. This demonstrates the power of the internet and its medium, as well as how when used correctly and with the right audience, it can cause waves of change "YOLO Co-Founder Prem Prakash remarked. In his opinion; it's past time for OTT platforms to put their platform to work for a good cause and leverage their content to effect social change.
According to a survey performed by YOLO in collaboration with IGPP (Institute for Governance, Policies & Politics) and Social Media Matters (SMM), 75% of respondents use the Internet for academic purposes, with video streaming and OTTs coming in second and third.
According to Vikram Sing, Co-Founder of Social Media Matters; they have asked social media and OTT platforms to pay attention to what floats on their platforms since it might have a positive or negative influence based solely on their content. According to the findings, more awareness and capacity building programs for youth are needed to encourage safe and healthy Internet usage.
Non-adult phone users account for over 85% of all users. More than 49% of users spent 5 hours or more per day on it, with 30% spending more than 6 hours per day. Dr Manish Tiwari, Senior Fellow, IGPP, remarked, "This is worrying and very high usage for the youthful population."
TikTok Ban in India, Instagram's Gain:
Instagram has regained the top rank in terms of total global downloads as of the fourth quarter of 2021, because of TikTok's suspension in India. Instagram recently had its greatest quarter since at least 2014, according to fresh data released by app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, with app installs up 10% over Q3. The Meta-owned photo and video sharing app also became the first Meta app to top the top downloads chart since WhatsApp in Q4 2019.
Meta stands to gain enormous advantage from its presence in India's digital shift, and Instagram now appears to be providing a major link to its numerous capabilities, including company discovery, eCommerce, and more if it can get in now.
