Instagram is a free, online photo-sharing application and social network platform that was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Instagram allows users to edit and upload photos and short videos through a mobile app. Users can add a caption to each of their posts and use hashtags and location-based geotags to index these posts and make them searchable by other users within the app. Each post by a user appears on their followers' Instagram feeds and can also be viewed by the public when tagged using hashtags or geotags. Users also have the option of making their profile private so that only their followers can view their posts. As a social network, Instagram also allows users to follow other users, like photos, comment on posts, and send private messages to friends via the Instagram Direct feature. Stories, a feature that lets users post photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours, and Reels, a feature for creating and sharing short-form video content, are also popular aspects of the app. Instagram is available on iOS, Android, and the web.