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I have no affiliation with Instagram other than a user, but I believe the answer really is that simple, they want you to use their app. The purpose of Instagram

I have no affiliation with Instagram other than a user, but I believe the answer really is that simple, they want you to use their app. The purpose of Instagram is to capture moments in time via photos on your mobile device and share those photos with your friends and others. The app serves that function eloquently so what advantage does the website give them? Users aren't discouraged from using their site, but what Instagram does not want is users to upload hundreds of images at once from the albums stored on their home computer. Not having the ability via the website helps to prevent that user. In addition, outside of uploading and altering images the website really is not missing any other functionality compared to the app. Why have a website at all you ask? My response would be why not have a website? It's a place for their business as a whole to have a web presence. Just because a product is mobile-centric, does not mean they can't have a website. I think their website is perfect for the product. It is minimal, you can search for users, see what others are posting, participate in the comments, and like photos. The only piece I do wish they would allow you to do is see who is following you and who you are following. But to be honest, I rarely use the site at all. In fact the only time I will find myself using the site is if I am on Facebook on my laptop and want to share a photo from Instagram to my FB friends. Other than that it is the app all the way.

wuliwong 11y ago
>The app serves that function eloquently so what advantage does the website give them? The advantage a website gives them is more users using their product more often which means more money from their advertisements. >Users aren't discouraged from using their site My personal experience is that I am discouraged from using their site. When I want to tag a user in a comment, or see who has liked a photo or look through my list of followers I feel discouraged and I close the browser tab. >what Instagram does not want is users to upload hundreds of images at once from the albums stored on their home computer. This is easily avoidable by just using their current UX of uploading pictures in their mobile app. Namely, one at a time. Putting this into their website wouldn't allow users an easy way of uploading 100's of images at once. >outside of uploading and altering images the website really is not missing any other functionality compared to the app. There is a lot of missing functionality; tagging in comments, viewing the list of people that liked a photo, viewing the list of a user's followers or who they follow, messaging, sharing-editing-deleting photos you've posted, your notifications and your activity stream. You say this: >I think their website is perfect for the product and also this: >But to be honest, I rarely use the site at all. My interpretation of this is that your opinion is the perfect web product for Instagram is one that people don't use. Which I guess brings us back to the beginning question. :)
- jeffmould 11y ago
  > The advantage a website gives them is more users using their product more often which means more money from their advertisements. Not really. For example, Facebook has proven that more people are drawn to mobile. While they may gain some new users, it is going to be negligible to their current base. In addition, I would bet that those users find them and signup via the web will be users who do not use the app. > My personal experience is that I am discouraged from using their site. When I want to tag a user in a comment, or see who has liked a photo or look through my list of followers I feel discouraged and I close the browser tab. This may be your experience, but I would bet that you are a minority in the larger scheme of things. > This is easily avoidable by just using their current UX of uploading pictures in their mobile app. Namely, one at a time. Putting this into their website wouldn't allow users an easy way of uploading 100's of images at once. True. But the desktop is not their focus. > My interpretation of this is that your opinion is the perfect web product for Instagram is one that people don't use. Which I guess brings us back to the beginning question. :) No, my interpretation is that Instagram was not built as a web product. It was built as a mobile product and the web is secondary to that. They are focused on building the best product to meet their demand, and unfortunately for you their demand is not on a browser-based solution. Not to be rude but I think you are looking for a deeper reason why they don't have a web app, when in reality the reason is simple. Again, the purpose of Instagram was to capture photographic moments in time via your mobile device and share those moments with others. They built a successful product around that and to meet that need.

wuliwong 11y ago

>The app serves that function eloquently so what advantage does the website give them? The advantage a website gives them is more users using their product more often which means more money from their advertisements. >Users aren't discouraged from using their site My personal experience is that I am discouraged from using their site. When I want to tag a user in a comment, or see who has liked a photo or look through my list of followers I feel discouraged and I close the browser tab. >what Instagram does not want is users to upload hundreds of images at once from the albums stored on their home computer. This is easily avoidable by just using their current UX of uploading pictures in their mobile app. Namely, one at a time. Putting this into their website wouldn't allow users an easy way of uploading 100's of images at once. >outside of uploading and altering images the website really is not missing any other functionality compared to the app. There is a lot of missing functionality; tagging in comments, viewing the list of people that liked a photo, viewing the list of a user's followers or who they follow, messaging, sharing-editing-deleting photos you've posted, your notifications and your activity stream. You say this: >I think their website is perfect for the product and also this: >But to be honest, I rarely use the site at all. My interpretation of this is that your opinion is the perfect web product for Instagram is one that people don't use. Which I guess brings us back to the beginning question. :)

jeffmould 11y ago
> The advantage a website gives them is more users using their product more often which means more money from their advertisements. Not really. For example, Facebook has proven that more people are drawn to mobile. While they may gain some new users, it is going to be negligible to their current base. In addition, I would bet that those users find them and signup via the web will be users who do not use the app. > My personal experience is that I am discouraged from using their site. When I want to tag a user in a comment, or see who has liked a photo or look through my list of followers I feel discouraged and I close the browser tab. This may be your experience, but I would bet that you are a minority in the larger scheme of things. > This is easily avoidable by just using their current UX of uploading pictures in their mobile app. Namely, one at a time. Putting this into their website wouldn't allow users an easy way of uploading 100's of images at once. True. But the desktop is not their focus. > My interpretation of this is that your opinion is the perfect web product for Instagram is one that people don't use. Which I guess brings us back to the beginning question. :) No, my interpretation is that Instagram was not built as a web product. It was built as a mobile product and the web is secondary to that. They are focused on building the best product to meet their demand, and unfortunately for you their demand is not on a browser-based solution. Not to be rude but I think you are looking for a deeper reason why they don't have a web app, when in reality the reason is simple. Again, the purpose of Instagram was to capture photographic moments in time via your mobile device and share those moments with others. They built a successful product around that and to meet that need.