December 10, 2025

Instagram Surpasses 3 Billion Users, Becomes Meta’s Top Revenue Engine

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Reels, DMs, and Algorithms Drive Explosive Growth

The number of global users of Meta’s photo- and video-sharing app Instagram has exceeded 3 billion. Since its acquisition in 2012, the platform has continued to expand both its user base and feature set, evolving into one of Meta’s most important sources of advertising revenue. While the rise of TikTok-style short videos has sharply increased time spent on the app, Instagram has also been stepping up efforts to address social issues, including youth protection and the prevention of investment fraud.

Facebook, now Meta, acquired Instagram in 2012 for $ 1 billion, roughly 80 billion yen at the time. As the user base expanded, its business applications grew in tandem, and in 2017, the term “Instagrammable” won Japan’s Buzzword Award, reflecting its deep cultural penetration.

In late September, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that the platform’s monthly active users had surpassed 3 billion. Four years after reaching the 1 billion mark in 2018, Instagram passed 2 billion users, and just three years later, it has now crossed the 3 billion threshold. Mosseri attributed the recent surge to three key factors: Reels, direct messages, and the algorithm that determines the order of content display.

Meta launched Reels in 2020 in response to TikTok’s rapid rise. With a simple flick of the finger, users can watch an endless stream of short videos. By 2024, Reels accounted for around 50 percent of total time spent on Instagram, and overall video viewing time has been increasing at an annual rate of about 20 percent.

Instagram’s time spent has also outpaced that of rival apps. According to data released in August 2025 by US research firm Sensor Tower, among the six major social media platforms, Instagram recorded the fastest increase in time spent per user, up 36 percent compared with 2021.

Instagram is now the third Meta platform to exceed 3 billion monthly users, following Facebook and WhatsApp. US research firm eMarketer forecasts that Instagram’s advertising revenue in the United States will reach 37.1 billion dollars, or approximately 5.45 trillion yen, in 2025. This would account for more than half of Meta’s total US advertising revenue and place Instagram ahead of Facebook as the company’s leading earner.

Rising Influence Brings Growing Scrutiny Over Social Responsibility

As Instagram’s influence continues to grow, so too does scrutiny of its social impact.　In the United States, a whistleblower revelation by a Meta employee in 2021 intensified criticism that the app harms the mental health of young people. In 2023, attorneys general from 42 states and territories filed a lawsuit against Meta over these concerns. In response, the company has introduced new safety measures for minors, including parental control tools and settings that restrict certain functions on youth accounts.

In Japan, Instagram has also been linked to a surge in crimes, including investment fraud. According to the National Police Agency, among social media-related investment scams identified in 2024, Instagram was the most frequently used platform for both fraudulent advertisements and direct message approaches to victims.