Almost everyone has heard of the infamous, photo-sharing app called Instagram. Four years after Instagram’s release, it has remained one of the most popular social media apps. Based upon research published by GlobalWebIndex, Instagram is considered the fastest growing social media website. It has increased user activity by 23% in the last six months.

One may ask, “What makes Instagram so popular?” According to Hyperlink, there are five essential reasons: it is social, free, easy and fun, instant and creative. Even though many social media sites have similar features, Instagram manages to stand out.

Instagram was the first social media site that allowed users to share photos easily, without the hassle of having to upload them to a computer beforehand. Instagram has become easy and simple to use. One can simply take or choose a picture from his library to post, edit, filter, make a caption and then post. Unlike other social media sites today, such as Facebook or Twitter, Instagram gives users a break from viewing the usual, boring status updates such as “just woke up” or “off to the store.”

Instagram was also one of the first social media sites that was “mobile-centric friendly” as stated by Mashable. Having a social media site that is based off of mobile devices was a smart move as it made the site easier to access. This created a sense of active usage where people were more apt to check social media on their phones rather than to log onto their computer to go on the social media site.

Instagram has remained an extremely popular social media site. And thus, people enjoy everything Instagram has to offer. From sharing pictures to commenting and liking on friend’s pictures, Instagram’s possibilities are endless.