Instagram is quickly growing with the company reporting some impressive numbers today. The company reported that 700 million users are now active on the app. Even though that number can be slightly skewed (are those users actually active and how many use the app daily?), it’s still an impressive number as far as social media goes.

The Facebook-owned company notes that 100 million users were added to the app every nine months since March of 2014. Where are these users coming from and what is Facebook doing to attract them? Here’s a closer look at Instagram and why the service has become so popular.

Some Additions

When Facebook took over Instagram, the app was simply a photo sharing app. Once the company acquired the photo app, things changed. Facebook implemented ‘stories’ much like those that can be found on Snapchat. It also become much easier to find friends and people with commonalities through the newly updated Instagram.

These changes were big enough to attract new users. But it’s not just individuals that are using Instagram and finding the social site interesting. Companies have begun to use Instagram in a major way - especially retailers. As it turns out, creating stories and posting images of clothes and other goods is a great way to get consumers interested in products.

Other companies have found Instagram useful as well.

Solidifying its Social Status

Instagram is simply one of the most popular social networks out there. It’s not quite as effective as a networking tool as, say, LinkedIn or Facebook, but it’s effective when it comes to finding consumers or just building up a following. Some individuals have also managed to build businesses based solely on Instagram users.

In short, Instagram can be used to take pictures and to store a digital photo album. Or, it can be used to promote yourself or your company. In other words, those millions of users are not just snapping photos and advertisers are taking notice. Along with more users come more advertising dollars.

Keeping Everyone Happy

Companies like Instagram have a lot of pressure. Pressure that increases as more and more users join. Instagram has to keep its advertisers happy but it also has to keep users happy. That’s a tricky balance. Users have already started to see some changes in Instagram (most of those happened when Facebook acquired the company), but if Facebook pushes ads too hard, people might stop using the app completely.

Instagram has, admittedly, become overcrowded with brands. For some, this is a good thing. For others looking simply to post photos it can be a bad thing. Then again, it all depends on who you choose to follow.

From Instagram’s perspective, the company wants more users that are willing to post, re-post, share, like, and create stories multiple times per day. So far, the Facebook secret sauce has been working for the company. The question is whether or not Instagram can keep it up. You can read more about Instagram’s latest reports on the company website.