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"Facebook snapped up the hugely popular photo-sharing app Instagram Monday, for roughly $1 billion in a combination of cash and stock. \nFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the acquisition in a post on his Facebook Timeline Monday. \nThe sale is expected to close later this quarter, and will bring the nine-person staff of Instagram to the social network.\n\u201CFor years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family,\" Zuckerberg said in the post. \"Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.\u201D \nZuckerberg went on to say that the company will be building on Instagram's strengths and features and growing the app independently rather than \u201Cjust trying to integrate everything into Facebook.\u201D  Facebook plans on keeping features within the app that allow photos to be published on other social networks, and the ability to have followers and follow people who are not necessarily your Facebook friends. \n\nSEE ALSO: 20 Witty Reactions to Facebook's Acquisition of Instagram\n\"We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products,\" Zuckerberg said. \"At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure.\"\nInstagram CEO Kevin Systrom echoed Zuckerberg's statements on the Instagram company blog adding \"We\u2019re psyched to be joining Facebook and are excited to build a better Instagram for everyone.\"\n\nSEE ALSO: Deleting Your Instagram Account? Here\u2019s How to Save Your Pics\nInstagram launched its iOS app in October 2010, and came to Android for the first time last week. This is the first time Facebook has acquired a company or product with so many users. \u201CWe don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all.\" Zuckerberg said. \u201CBut providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.\u201D\nWhat do you think this means for the photo-sharing app \u2014 and how will it boost the social network? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. \n\n\n \n\r\nBONUS: The Best Instagram Pictures Ever\n\n\n12 Incredible Instagram Images \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Maura Grace (@folkfibers)\n\nJosh Riedel: \"I love the way you can travel through photos. Maura (@folkfibers) travels the USA in her VW van, and her photos take you along for the ride. I like to imagine Maura pulling to the side of the road and leaning out her window to snap this shot as she's leaving the park.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Simon (@stmng)\n\nJessica Zollman: \"The composition of this image is just fantastic. The use of the blur tool to create depth of field, and the warm tones over the black &amp; white processing sets such a beautiful mood.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Tyson Wheatley (@twheat)\n\nJosh Riedel: \"Sometimes it's best to focus on the parts rather than the whole. I love all the shades of grey in this photo, the splotches of white, the wrinkles and creases around the eye.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Benjamin Heath (@benjaminheath)\n\nJessica Zollman: \"Iconic photos of San Francisco landmarks are commonplace in my feed, but this photo brought a fresh perspective. I love the soft light, the haze from the fog and that there is so much sky.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Athipan Wongsuebyut (@awnoom)\n\nJosh Riedel: \"This photo was taken in Thailand during the flooding last year, yet there's something hopeful about the photo: the forward motion of the boat gives the sense that this too will pass.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Matt Rubin (@mattrubin)\n\nJessica Zollman: \"I'm a sucker for cars, architecture and typography, so this was a no brainer favorite. I think the best part about this image is that, if you look carefully, you can see that the photographer managed to capture himself taking this photo in the shop window.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. Philip Park (@komeda)\n\nJosh Riedel: \"Millions of people live in Seoul, but this photo makes you believe there is only this one man and his bicycle.\" \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Robert Josiah (@robertjosiah)\n\nJessica Zollman: \"The marriage of blinding white with bright colors and a blue hue creates a sterile feeling to this image, and often appears to be iridescent as a result of the depth of field. This is a great example of how subtly editing with iPhone applications can create a beautiful image.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. Adam Senatori (@adamsenatori)\n\nJosh Riedel: \"I love seeing the world the way others see it, especially when they live most of their life in the sky. Adam Senatori is a pilot who snaps photos on his iPhone while thousands of feet up in the air. There's something calming about this aerial view of a farm in western Wisconsin.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. Allan Hinton (@chaiwalla)\n\nJessica Zollman: \"I love when people share portraits of their friends or family on Instagram, providing a window to their lives, and this is one of those portraits that just demands you stop in your feed and look! The autumn leaves, her red lipstick and the orange hat all filtered through Valencia - such a beautiful blend of colors.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n11. Shah Kashani (@shahkashani)\n\nJosh Riedel: \"This was taken during the Giants Superbowl parade in NYC. I saw a bunch of parade photos in my feed that day, but this one stood out. It made me feel like I was there watching, too.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n12. Lindsey Garrett (@modchik)\n\nJessica Zollman: \"We couldn't leave out a cat photo! Weebee is one of many photogenic Instapets, and she looks pretty great in Rise. This is also a beautifully composed shot, broken up into three sections and perfectly focused on the subject.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Mashable's Favorite Instagram Stories\n\nHow Facebook Could Actually Improve Instagram \nDeleting Your Instagram Account? Here\u2019s How to Save Your Pics\nInstagram for Android: Advanced Camera, But No Tilt Shift [HANDS ON]\n10 Photo Apps That Enhance Instagram\n13 Products You Can Make From Your Instagram Snapshots [PICS]\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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