The rise of Pinterest and Instagram

It’s clear now that Pinterest and Instagram are no passing fads. Even if the sites themselves don’t survive long term, they represent a tectonic shift to an image-based media experience. As Steve Rubel wrote for AdAge, “Visual storytelling is in renaissance—but with a twist. Photography, rather than video, is fast becoming the lingua franca of a more global, mobile and social society.” And when it comes to visual storytelling, Pinterest and Instagram are at the very top. According to a Compete’s Online Shopper Intelligence Survey, Pinterest grew from 700,000 to almost 20 million unique visitors in the last year. And just this month, Instagram (which Facebook bought for approximately $1 billion earlier this year) reached 23,900,000 average monthly users, according to research from AppData.

For brands and publishers, this could have big implications. According to the Online Shopper survey, about 25 percent of consumers said they bought a product or service after finding it on Pinterest. On the Instagram side, online retailers are now even integrating the service onto their product pages. And, if the rumors of Instagram branching from mobile onto the web are true, it could mean even wider expansion. Even the backlash against Instagram says something about how it could affect the media industry as a whole. Matthew Ingram writes for GigaOm, “That doesn’t change the fact that these tools also break down the barriers for participation by talented amateurs of all kinds—photographers, writers, journalists and movie-makers. And smart media companies are taking advantage of this, as Sports Illustrated is by running Instagram photos for the first time.” As Rubel put it in AdAge, “The growing appetite for photography bodes well for marketers. The field inherently attracts visual storytellers and creative types. However, it’s not a slam dunk yet.”

• The Impact of Pinterest (MediaPost)

• What the Instagram backlash says about the future of media (GigaOm)

• The Revolution Won’t Be Televised; It Will Be Instagrammed (AdAge)

• Instagram Rejoins Top Facebook Apps List (AppNewser)

• Instagram Allegedly Playing With Expanded Web Profiles (PCMag)

• Fashion Retailer Integrates Instagram Onto Product Pages (Mashable)

• Don’t Hate Instagram Because It’s Disrupting Another Profession (AdAge)

• Group M Next Taps Pinterest Analytics Company Curalate (AdAge)

• NAD: Testimonials On Pinterest Require Disclaimers (MediaPost)