Instagram, one of the most influential social networks in the world organized the first ever cultural exhibition in Sri Lanka at Hotel Galadari recently. They also partnered with Sarvodaya Fusion, a social enterprise focused on ICT for Development with the mission “e-empowerment of rural communities” to train and educate 20,000 students across Sri Lanka in one year.
The exhibition was inaugurated by the Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, Harin Fernando and President’s Secretary and Chairman - Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, Austin Fernando.
The exhibit included a wide range of images and stories captured by the Sri Lankan Instagram community. It showcased the vibrancy and cultural diversity of Sri Lanka.The Instagram cultural exhibition was a part of the larger Facebook event – “Boost Your Business” aimed at helping Sri Lankan business owners grow their businesses using Facebook and Instagram.
From scenic landscapes to glimpses of everyday life, a hint of modernity, expanses of lush greenery, the majestic Indian Ocean, and more, the exhibition encapsulates everything that is definitive of Sri Lanka and its uniqueness in quick visual snippets. Members of the Instagram community featured in this exhibition constitute a group of six individuals from Sri Lanka across diverse age groups and professional backgrounds, united in their passion to capture inspiring moments and stories from their personal perspective.
The exhibition also gave them a chance to make their voices known and display some of their most iconic visuals for the world to see. The visual documentation of these moments on Instagram by the Sri Lankan community illustrates how people are increasingly using images to experience and discover the world around them. With a community of over 800 million users globally that is growing every day, Instagram has become a platform where people come together to connect, share interests and experiences. On any given day, over 80 million photos are posted on Instagram, therefore, if something is happening, it is likely being captured on Instagram, taking these images to the world across cultural and language barriers.
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook, Inc. It was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and launched in October 2010 exclusively on iOS. A version for Android devices was released two years later, in April 2012, followed by a feature-limited website interface in November 2012, and apps for Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 in April 2016 and October 2016, respectively.
The app allows users to upload photos and videos to the service, which can be edited with various filters, and organized with tags and location information. An account’s posts can be shared publicly or with pre-approved followers. Users can browse other users’ content by tags and locations, and view trending content. Users can “like” photos, and follow other users to add their content to a feed.
Instagram began development in San Francisco, when Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger chose to focus their multi-featured HTML5 check-in project, Burbn, on mobile photography. As Krieger reasoned, Burbn became too similar to Foursquare, and both realized that it had gone too far. Burbn was then pivoted to become more focused on photo-sharing. The word Instagram is a portmanteau of instant camera and telegram.
Instagram was the runner-up for “Best Mobile App” at the 2010 TechCrunch Crunchies in January 2011. In May 2011, Fast Company listed CEO Kevin Systrom at number 66 in “The 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2011”. In June 2011, Inc. included co-founders Systrom and Krieger in its 2011 “30 under 30” list.
Instagram won “Best Locally Made App” in the SF Weekly Web Awards in September 2011. The 7x7Magazine’s September 2011 issue featured Systrom and Krieger on the cover of their “The Hot 20, 2011” issue. In December 2011, Apple Inc. named Instagram the “App of the Year” for 2011. In 2015,
Instagram was named No. 1 by Mashable on its list of “The 100 best iPhone apps of all time,” noting Instagram as “one of the most influential social networks in the world.”