Today, Systrom says, the company’s mission is “strengthening relationships through shared experiences.” The idea underpinning this goal is that Instagram should offer users a more overt and unvarnished way to connect through the universal language of images—to broadcast moments and not just just-so snapshots. “A lot of times you’re on the way to the airport, or you’re at a campground, and [a photo] doesn’t need to endure, because you’re not actually sharing a photo: You’re just communicating a status update of what you’re doing,” says product manager Stein, who has only been with Instagram since May 2016 but fell in love with the app as one of its original beta testers. “That [emphasis on experiences] wasn’t always clear to us,” Systrom says. “It wasn’t always clear to Facebook. And it wasn’t always clear to the world.” … [Read more...] about How Instagram Changed—Before It Had To
