Instagram has been an Apple fanboy’s favorite since its debut in October 2010. It not only showed the potential of the iOS platform for developers but also changed photography forever and even created an entirely new niche in social sharing. It comes without surprise, then, that its user base was heavily disturbed at its announcement to broaden itself to Android as well as iPhone users. Just imagine it – pictures from both Apple users and Android users sharing the same server space! A radical notion indeed (sarcasm intended), but it happened. Then Instagram was bought by the Internet titan Facebook, putting some users on their toes, and things got really scary when Facebook released its own photo sharing app that was most likely molded after Instagram.

So where’s the photo sharing app headed now? My best guess is likely the same as yours; slowly merging with Facebook’s native photo system, and then it will be liquidated. But is this a bad thing?

What Instagram brings to the table is already at the table. The only difference between IG and Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks is that Instagram is exclusively for photos, while other networks offer more ways to share (text and videos, for example). And while there’s no doubt that there definitely are some photographically talented users on Instagram and that the app did jump into our world with a splash, it’s something of a joke now. The network cliché. You open Instagram to see picture after picture of the same thing through different filters. Flowers and trees and whatnot. Besides, when mediums for communication and life sharing that support photos already exist, why should we create another network to manage and advertise when we could just use the Twitter handle we already own?

The point I’m making is simple. Our world is saturated enough with social media, and that needs to change – it needs to be reduced – and Instagram is totally expendable. Facebook, though they’ll probably royally screw it up, should learn from Instagram and liquidate it. Twitter should do (or perhaps already has done) the same.

And who will be upset? I may be wrong in this calculation, but the core Instagram users are already pissed off and abandoning the application as it is. Open it to Android users? We all remember the uproar that it caused. Bought by Facebook? It doesn’t take an expert to know how cliché and pathetic the pictures will become once the merging of those two networks begins. No. The original core of Instagram already knows the app is a sinking ship. It’s “darling of the app store” hype is over at the least. And in a world where one’s attention and time is already spent scattered amongst countless networks when all of it could be simplified and centralized, the disappearance of Instagram, an app with nothing greatly unique to offer, is likely not a bad thing.

This, of course, is all speculation. There have been no reports of Instagram shutting down anytime soon or even for that matter merging with Facebook. That said, common sense should suffice as support for my speculating.

Image credit: Beta75.se (via Flickr – cc)

Instagram’s Demise and Why It’s Okay

About Dylan Taylor

He’ll have you know that he has big feet and sexy hair. When not posting pictures of his oversized shoes on Twitter, Dylan is either writing, socializing or sleeping. He lives on the East Coast and loves design, technology and new media. The man has quite the female fan following, maybe even a tad too much if you ask us. On wwwireframe, he covers new media and pop culture.