A love letter to Instagram in honour of its fifth birthday (+ the app’s most memorable moments)

by Anne T. Donahue October 9, 2015

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on May 27, 2014 at 7:58am PDT

Where did the time go?

It feels like just yesterday that I sat across from my friends in a pub, judging their incessant need to document our night out with a bevy of photos and filters via some mystery app that made said photos look old. They said they think I’d really like it and that it’s something they think I’d be good at. I said they didn’t know me and how dare they make assumptions about who I am. And then, in the privacy of my apartment, I downloaded it, anyway: Instagram.

The year was 2011, and I was a year behind, the way I usually am when it comes to technology. In October 2010, Instagram was born, making this month its fifth birthday, another milestone in a long line of evolutions — all of which have taken it farther from the app’s original M.O.: to share photos with friends.

Since then, it’s arguably replaced Facebook in terms of relevance (here’s to no friends from high school sharing whatever-it-is friends from high school usually share), Twitter in terms of engagement (we now know what the interiors of many celebrity homes look like), and MySpace in terms of me needing a third social media platform to round out this paragraph. It’s where we find out about makeovers, major life developments, favourite brands used, and just how well the people we know dress. We see common interests between ourselves and our beloved famouses, we learn who has a penchant for landscapes with meditative captions, and we get a glimpse of what so-and-so’s watching on Netflix tonight.

Despite being owned by Facebook, Instagram has maintained its original ability to be what it started out as. Private accounts mean you really can just share photos and call it day — while those of us who crave attention (so: most of us) curate our feeds to paint a very distinctive picture of who we are. Apps like Pinterest? They tell a story of who we aspire to be. Instagram? It keeps us in the (highly manipulated) moment.

But aside from what you see on accounts built on stealing material (they know who they are), there’s no wrong way to Instagram. Despite its popularity, it doesn’t seem like an app that’s gotten pretentious in the wake of its demand. If your feed is entirely kittens, that’s your call. If you’re all decor, all the time, that’s great for you. Which is why I think we love it so much — despite its popularity boom, it’s never stopped being the evolution of disposable cameras; a documentation of what life looks like in that particular moment. There’s room to be creative or brand-oriented or just straight-up narcissistic — so basically, Instagram is still Instagram.

Its success and sustainability relies on the space it gives its users. And space is great. Space is why yesterday I Instagrammed my nails and also my weird, lazy, judgemental cat, and why I intend on Instagramming my outfit today if I’m into it. It’s also probably why millions of users have picked Instagram up and propped it up on their shoulders like that scene in Rudy everyone always talks about. We’re a generation defined by “I do what I want!” and instead of Instagram telling us what it wants, it’s stood back and said, “Cool.”

Which, of course, is why it still is.

To celebrate Instagram’s fifth birthday, browse the gallery below and look back at its most memorable moments.

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instagram fifth birthday

Most liked photo:

On May 25, 2015, Kendall Jenner laid down, shaped her hair into hearts, and earned 3.1 million likes as a result. Fortunately, I’m sure this was exactly what Instagram had in mind when it was created five years ago.

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instagram fifth birthday

Most followed person:

Last month, Taylor Swift overtook Kim Kardashian and Beyonce to become the most followed Instagram user with a whopping 49.6 million followers. What’s coolest, though, is how all five of Instagram’s most-followed users are women, with Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande rounding out the mix. (PS. I’m coming for you, Swifty.)

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instagram fifth birthday

Most memorable photo:

During the 2014 Oscars, Ellen lived our dream by posing with every celebrity who’d ever been born for the most epic (and shared) selfie. True, Kendall’s hair earned more likes, but it’s a testament to how a once-embarrassing photo protocol has now become an accepted and preferred method of photography. (See also: here’s to those of us who selfied with disposable cameras and arguably began this movement.)

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instagram fifth birthday

Big reveals:

Instagram has become a go-to for big beauty reveals. Case in point? Right after this year’s Oscars, Jared Leto cut his long, flowing locks for Suicide Squad and told us all via Instagram first.

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instagram fifth birthday

Censorship:

But not everything is million-likes and heart emojis: #FreeTheNipple has become a serious Instagram movement, thanks to celebrities like Chelsea Leyland, Scout Willis and Chelsea Handler, who’ve challenged Instagram’s strict no-nudity rulebook. (Especially since guys are shirtless all over the place.) However this week, CEO Kevin Systrom blamed Apple for the censorship, claiming younger users won’t be able to use the app if there’s breasts involved. (Even though, again, guys are shirtless all over the place.)

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instagram fifth birthday

#Controversy:

File this under #FreeTheNipple too: after posting a photo of herself from a French shoot in which she’s topless, Rihanna’s Instagram account disappeared in May 2014, only to return in November of last year. And yes, those six months were empty and hollow for all of us.

But that said, Instagram’s also played host to more than a few other movements and/or controversies, too: #BanCurvy, #FreeYourPits, and Kylie Jenner-centric lip plumping became mainstays of social media for a few short weeks, as well as Chrissy Teigen-sanctioned Thigh Reading and, lest we forget, #NoMakeupSelfies.

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