Facebook to Buy Instagram for $1 Billion

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has let it slip that the social media juggernaut has plans to purchase Instagram for a whopping $1 billion USD. Having recently expanded to the Android market, Zuckerberg confirmed the news on his personal blog, adding that the deal won’t affect Instagram’s integration with competing social networks.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time they’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. For those of you concerned about the inevitable pairing of Facebook and Instagram, for the time being the two companies with act completely independently. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed via his site’s blog that the service “is not going away,” adding “the Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love.”

Source: Engadget