Instagram launches mobile web sharing to make sharing content easier

Instagram wants to be the photo app for the whole world, even if you can’t or won’t download it. In pursuit of international growth where networks are slow and data is expensive, Instagram has given its mobile website a massive upgrade that adds core features of the main app, including photo sharing and a lightweight version of the Explore tab.

Photos and video embeds provide the same features available on the Instagram webfeed, allowing users to like and comment. All embedded content will also appear with the uploader’s Instagram username and clicking the Instagram logo will bring people to their page on Instagram.com.

Web embedding has been a highly requested feature for the service since the company stopped supporting Twitter embeds to protect its brand. With the introduction of video last month, the update makes perfect sense. In comparison, Vine has already had embedding tools in place since its launch at the beginning of the year. The ability to embed video makes it easier to share photos and videos on the web helps provide ubiquity to the Instagram brand.

With this move, Instagram seems to be taking steps to establishing itself as a real-time sharing platform. Similar to Twitter, sharing on the Instagram platform can be enticing for journalists and reporters for sharing video on location. With over 130 million active users, bringing Instagram content outside of the native apps can only spell for more widespread recognition.