Facebook’s Instagram Acquisition Shows Increasing Importance of Imagery in Social Media Says Punch

Facebook’s acquisition of photo sharing social network Instagram serves as further evidence that the medium of imagery is increasing in importance according to PR, search and social media agency Punch Communications.

London, UK (PRWEB) April 15, 2012-Facebook’s acquisition of photo sharing social network Instagram serves as further evidence that the medium of imagery is increasing in importance, according to PR, search and social media agency Punch Communications.

Imagery has become far more prevalent across social media over the past 12 months. Instagram alone boasted over 32 million users prior to its acquisition by Facebook, whilst Pinterest is now the third most visited social network in the US and is growing at a rapid rate.

Facebook only recently updated its functionality around imagery, now displaying higher resolution images in a separate window, whereas Google+ has made imagery one of its USPs. In addition, Twitter recently updated its own functionality to better support the use of imagery in Tweets, whilst Pinterest has also started a revolution in the way that people share pictures around the web.

Instagram has been a leading photography sharing application for around 18 months, making use of the instant and spontaneous advantages of smartphone applications and combining it with basic image filter functionality, allowing users to customise and share their images with their network in an instant. It is likely that Facebook found this functionality attractive, as well as seeing acquisition as an opportunity to add more users to Facebook.

Philip Keightley, account director at online PR company Punch Communications, said: “The rate at which social networkers interact with content has increased significantly over the past few years, meaning that sometimes images get a message across more efficiently than words. Images can be much more personal and can tell a story more effectively in social media.

“Technologically, smartphones have revolutionised digital image consumption, in terms of the sharing process and also ease of access from the internet. This is predominantly achieved through social media, so Facebook is clearly looking to improve its image offering in order to be better placed to compete with Google+ in that area.”

Punch Communications is an integrated PR, social media and SEO agency. Having grown from founders Pete and Emma Goold in 2003 into a team of more than 20 consultants, Punch is continuing to expand, and encourages any candidates interested in PR, search or social media jobs to get in touch.

For more information, please call 01858 411 600, or visit http://www.punchcomms.com.