Instagram updated its press page on Thursday to display new user numbers and app statistics, putting to rest some of the hooplah over a rumored decline in user activity and giving more concrete stats on just how large the Instagram user base really is. Most importantly, Instagram announced that it now has 90 million monthly active users — a more valuable metric than the commonly used registered users metric because it reflects how many people are actively engaging with the app.
“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,” Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said in a statement.
The stats update, which was first reported by AllThingsD, comes after the company was in the spotlight over its user numbers during the holidays. The New York Post reported that the company had experienced a drop in activity after a privacy guidelines debacle. While several other publications widely panned the Post story for the incomplete data it used in its report, the incident highlighted the real questions that existed about Instagram’s user base.
A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed Thursday that Instagram has actually seen 10 percent growth in active users since last month. The new stats, as of Thursday, include:
Mark Zuckerberg noted in September that Instagram had hit 100 million registered users, so it seems the monthly active figure isn’t too far from that number — although presumably it’s grown since September.
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