Instagram has always been pretty precocious. Now, just ahead of its 15th birthday, we have a new measure of its global fame — and it is on a level far beyond the dreams of regular teenagers.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday that the once-humble photo-sharing app, which he had the foresight to buy for a mere $1 billion in 2012, now has more than 3 billion active users. That's an extraordinary achievement, and not just because Instagram had barely cracked 30 million monthly active users at sale time.

Three billion is nearly 37 percent of the population of Earth. If it were a country, Instagram would be larger than India (which has the largest Insta audience), China, the U.S. and the E.U. combined. The Roman Empire, the British Empire, the American whatever-this-is — they can only dream of this level of conquest.

No empire, real or virtual (and these days who can tell the difference), has ever been forged this quickly. Even Instagram's older sibling, Facebook, only just hit 3 billion users in January, at the ripe age of 21. Instagram, launched on Oct. 6, 2010, is the true prodigy of the social media family. (WhatsApp is Meta's middle child; the company says it has 3 billion users too, but your mileage may vary on whether it counts as social media.)

Based on these growth numbers, there's every reason to believe Instagram will soon overtake big brother, and become synonymous with social media in the 2020s (and maybe even 2030s) the way Facebook was in the 2010s. (TikTok is on Insta's tail, but currently eating its dust with an estimated 1.6 billion active users.)

Just as Alexander the Great was said to have wept when there was no more of the then-known world to be conquered, Zuckerberg may well lament that there are less than 5 billion smartphone users who could possibly download his app. (It's still banned in China, which Alexander couldn't reach either.)

Who counts as an Instagram 'user'?

But how does Zuckerberg's Meta count Instagram's "active users," anyway? And does it matter as much as the hype suggests?

It's an important question because Zuckerberg has been zigging and zagging on his metrics of late. In July, the company simply said that 3.48 billion people used the Meta "family of apps" — and that they did so every day. The last time Zuckerberg broke out Instagram's user number, on a quarterly call for investors and analysts in 2022, he pinned it at 2 billion monthly active users, which is the more frequently-used number. (MAUs are what we've used for TikTok and WhatsApp above.)

And Monthly Active Users (MAUs) is what Zuck meant this week, according to his Threads post. One that threw in a Breaking Bad GIF — "billions, with a b" — for extra swagger.

So why switch from monthly to daily and back again? Is counting users as simple as receiving pings from servers when they log in, or is fuzzy math involved? Are we talking across all devices and web browsers, or smartphones only? Mashable reached out to Meta and asked them to walk us through the MAU-counting process, but the company is staying tight-lipped for now.

Still, there is some evidence to suggest that a Monthly Active User ain't what they used to be — and that counting the amount of time spent on the app may be a more relevant metric.

Take me, for an extreme example. Technically, I'm a Monthly Active User of Instagram. I'm part of the three billion-strong empire! But what that means is practice is that once or twice a month, I'll look someone up via their handle. I posted a grand total of two photos in 2024, and 15 in 2023, continuing a decline since 2020. According to Screen Time on my iPhone, my Instagram usage has dropped to an average 18 seconds a day.

Why? My feed has long felt too clogged with ads and algorithmic recommendations for me to truly enjoy it (and I'm far from alone on that front, especially given the controversial feed changes of 2024). The brand new redesign, which hides the post button and prioritizes DMs and Reels, makes Insta feel less friendly (at least to this user) than ever. It's a far cry from the app I loved in the 2010s (when at least one Mashable staffer declared an Instagram addiction, and I wasn't far off myself).

Why time on Instagram may be a better metric

Meta doesn't provide any kind of time-spent-on-app data for Instagram. Estimates from multiple online data services suggest it's around 32 minutes daily per Insta user, worldwide.

That might sound like a lot, but the number hasn't shifted since 2022. Previous to that, time on Instagram was increasing year on year. Now it may have flatlined.

TikTok is ahead of Insta here. The ByteDance app may have a billion-with-a-b fewer users overall, but those users spend an estimated average of 56 minutes every day on the app.

And that particular engagement figure is only going to become more relevant as the smartphone app market becomes saturated — as every single one of us downloads both apps on our phones, basically. The MAUs will encompass more and more of us, because who doesn't look at the occasional Reel or TikTok when their friends send one?

Minutes of usage per day may not be the only metric that matters, but it is a growing part of a complicated social media picture.

For now, perhaps the clearest snapshot of the social media landscape emerges if you multiply number of billion MAUs by daily average usage minutes. Do that math for TikTok, and you get 89. Do it for Instagram, you get 96.

The 'gram still wins, but TikTok is too close for comfort — close enough to take the swag out of Zuckerberg's boast.

Vicky

The new Xbox gaming handheld is finally available for pre-order here in the United States.

The long-awaited, Asus-produced ROG Xbox Ally consoles (there are two of them) are launching on Oct. 16, and the pre-order date is fast approaching. In fact, it's approaching so fast that it's already here. That's right, Asus just announced that the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X consoles are available for pre-order starting Thursday at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET). The regular ROG Xbox Ally runs for $599, while the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X runs for $999.

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Credit: Asus/Microsoft

ROG Xbox Ally X

$999
at Best Buy

Pre-order Here

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Credit: Asus/Microsoft

ROG Xbox Ally

$599
at Best Buy

Pre-order Here

Here are all of the places where you can pre-order the ROG Xbox Ally:

• Asus

• Amazon

• Best Buy

• Ant Online

• Microsoft

• Walmart

If any of those links aren't working, keep checking back as retailers make pre-orders available.

If you're not buying directly from Asus, the more powerful of the two ROG Xbox Ally handheld gaming consoles is exclusive to Best Buy. There's also a sweepstakes for people who pre-order directly from Asus in the United States. If you buy from Asus, you'll get enrolled into a contest where you could potentially win a bundle that includes any of the following:

• ROG Strix Arion SSD

• ROG Raikiri Controller

• ROG Cetra wireless earbuds

• ROG Bulwark charging/TV dock

• ROG Xbox Ally 2-in-1 premium case

The Xbox Ally promises a Steam Deck-like experience but with built-in integration for your Xbox account, complete with Game Pass support. If you're an Xbox devotee who travels a lot, this may be the machine for you. Good luck with the pre-orders.

Vicky

SAVE $151: As of Sept. 25, the 2024 Apple iMac (M4 chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is down to as low as $1,347.50 at Amazon. That's a 10% or $151.50 discount.

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Credit: Apple

Apple iMac (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD)

$1,347.50
at Amazon

$1,499
Save $151.50

Get Deal

If you've been looking for the right time to upgrade your desktop computer, Apple's M4 iMac just went on sale. So long as you're not picky about the color, now's a good time to add it to your cart.

As of Sept. 25, the 2024 Apple iMac with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage is down to $1,347.50 at Amazon if you choose the blue model. That's 10% or $151.50 in savings. The green option is also down to $1,349, while the silver option is sitting at $1,353. Unfortunately, the yellow, orange, pink, and purple models are all still full price.

Launched last October, the M4 iMac didn't make too many major changes to the previous generation Apple desktop. The main differences are the M4 chip (versus its M3 predecessor), of course, as well as new colorways and the inclusion of Apple Intelligence features. Apple said in a press release that the M4 chip is 1.7 times faster for daily productivity and 2.1 times faster for photo editing and gaming compared to the M1 iMac. While it didn't compare it to the previous M3 model, it's safe to say the M4 will trump its predecessor in speed.

Other features include support for up to 24GB of unified memory, 10-core GPU, a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, 12MP Center Stage camera, four USB-C ports, and the ability to connect up to two 6K external displays.

There's a chance this particular iMac could drop even lower during Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days event. But if you're not willing to gamble, we suggest jumping on this $150+ savings while it's around.

Vicky