Instagram overtakes Twitter in number of users

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Instagram announced Wednesday the photo-sharing social network has reached more than 300 million monthly users, surpassing the number of Twitter users for the first time.

The company jumped from 200 million monthly users to 300 million in about nine months.

Meanwhile, Twitter had about 284 million active monthly users as of the end of October.

"We're thrilled to watch this community thrive and witness the amazing connections people make over shared passions and journeys," Instagram's Kevin Systrom said in a blog post on the company's website.

Instagram was purchased by social media giant Facebook, which currently has 1.35 billion users, in 2012. There were fears that merger would hamper Instagram's footprint, but the new numbers indicate that's not the case.

Now Instagram is looking to enhance features, including adding badges to authenticate users in the public eye.

"Today, we're excited to announce verified badges for celebrities, athletes and brands, making it easier for you to connect with the authentic accounts you're looking for. These badges will start rolling out over the coming days," Systrom said.

The CEO said Instagram is also focusing on deactivating spam accounts, and launched a "people" tab, suggesting interesting users to follow.