Reflections on Instagram

This week the founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mikey Krieger, are leaving the company. Instagram is only about 8 years old and has continued to grow since it’s acquisition by Facebook in 2012. I was an early user of Instagram and from the start was really into the idea of Instagram meetups. One of the first meetups I helped organize was in South Park on January 20th, 2011, where we got a surprise visit from Kevin, Mikey, Josh Riedel, and Shayne Sweeney.

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Had a good time at the unofficial Instagram meet-up in South Park: @tigerbeat @jeremybrooks @bubzlet @josh @kevin @sanfrancisco @mikeyk @shayne @heartsf @sfslim It was fun doing lunch and meeting folks, but next time we’ll skip the lunch and just do a photo walk 🙂

A post shared by Doctor Popular (@docpop) on Jan 20, 2011 at 3:48pm PST

Instagram had a surprisingly big impact on my life. After organizing a ton of #Instawalks, I developed a reputation as an early evangelist and pioneer of the mobile photography movement. I eventually left my job as a game designer at Tribal Games and started working for Postagram as a community manager. I got write ups in Wired and The New York Times and was a regularly appearing guest on several Revision 3 shows.

— @ (@@www.youtube.com)

— @ (@@www.youtube.com)

So big shout out to Mikey and Kevin. Instagram had a huge impact on my life and many others, I’m sure. Can’t wait to see what you make next.