[kylelibra]

The increased emphasis on photo sharing is interesting. Facebook bought Instagram a few months back. Just the other day Google announced the acquisition of Snapseed. Now Twitter is making changes to make photo sharing more relevant to the experience.

It seems like photo sharing is strategically important to each of these companies. Anyone have any insights as to why?

[twoodfin]

Photo sharing is the top reason people use social networks. I don't think there's a close second.

[Silhouette]

I suspect being able to send a message to a friend without having to remember/maintain phone numbers or e-mail addresses is also a key feature for social networks. It provides a reliable way of finding someone, and it means people can maintain their own real-life contact details in one place and have everyone else's records update automatically and accurately.

But yes, sharing photos is surely one of the most important applications for such a platform. People like to keep in touch, and in the age of cameraphones and high speed Internet connections, a picture often is worth 1,000 words.

[jot]

There aren't many messages more effective than "X has just tagged you in a photo" to drive a user back to a site.