Instagram is Now Facebook, I Mean Instagram, I Mean Facebook

With approvals from both the Federal Trade Commission and the California Department of Corporations, the 56th most popular site in the U.S., Instagram, is now part of the fourth most popular site, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).

Facebook purchased the popular photography application for $741 million, lowered from its original price tag of $1 billion because of Facebook’s stock price collapse.

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As the 56th most popular site, Instagram sees 22.7 million unique visitors to its site monthly, a figure that has risen from 16.5 million only one month ago. Its 80 million users take photographs via Instagram and apply a range of visual effects, like the retro filter which mimics the look of a polaroid.  Users may then share these pictures through Instagram itself, or through other social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Instagram, which was founded less than two years ago and has ten employees, has grown from 50 million users this April to 80 million in July.

“Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement made last April, “and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.”

Chief executive of Instagram Kevin Systrom made clear in a statement published on the company’s blog several months ago that the service would not become just another Facebook feature.

“It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away,” he said.  “We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience.”

But did Systrom mean Instagram’s mobile experience or Facebook’s?  Instagram’s mobile experience is regarded as one of the best in the business, while Facebook’s has often been referred to as less than amazing.

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