Minutes after Facebook announced the acquisition of Instagram on April 9, 2012, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom quieted concern from some of their 30 million users by saying the 18-month-old app will “continue to add new features and create a better mobile photos experience.”
“It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network,” Systrom said in a statement.
If that wasn’t Instagram’s intention and the 2011 iPhone App of the Year was going away, it could’ve dramatically changed sneakerhead culture; Facebook’s $1-billion acquisition of Instagram was a “seminal moment” in the history of sneakerhead culture, Josh Luber explained on Unleashed.
Luber, co-founder of StockX, an online marketplace for sneakers, collectibles, electronics, and apparel, joined Olivia Harlan Dekker and Speedy Morman on Unleashed to discuss the rise of sneakerhead culture over the last four decades, understandably “ridiculous” retail pricing of sneakers, and more.
“Everyone in the world was converging to Instagram,” Luber said on this week’s episode, describing one of the four seminal moments in the history of sneakerhead culture. “All sneakerheads ever wanted to do [was] show off the shoes they had and see what everyone else was wearing. So, Instagram allowed everyone to do that at scale. Then the brands started using social media.”
You can listen to the full interview with Josh Luber below. And check out past interviews with C.J. McCollum, Adam Lefkoe, Jalen Rose, and other prominent figures in sports and lifestyle or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else podcasts are available.
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