Instagram is a photo sharing app and social network popular with iPhone users. The app recently also moved to Android, and now it looks like they'll be moving to Facebook a little more permanently. Facebook announced that they were buying the company for a whopping $1 billion in cash and stock.
Why so much for a company not worth that much on paper? There may be other speculation on the issue, but I'd say this is all about fending off Google. Google+ allowed faster and better photo sharing than Facebook, and Google purchased Picnik to integrate the photo editing features into Google+.
Instagram won't lose the social networking integration users know and love, at least not immediately, but I have to wonder if the Instagram network may not go the way of Picnik once the purchase is complete.
What say you? Is Facebook's purchase a win or loss for users?
