No Filter

The Inside Story of Instagram

By: Sarah Frier

Narrated by: Megan Tusing

Winner of the 2020 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award * Named “Best Book of the Year” by Fortune, The Financial Times, The Economist, Inc. Magazine, and NPR

In this “sequel to The Social Network” (The New York Times), award-winning reporter Sarah Frier reveals the never-before-told story of how Instagram became the most culturally defining app of the decade.

“The most enrapturing book about Silicon Valley drama since Hatching Twitter” (Fortune), No Filter “pairs phenomenal in-depth reporting with explosive storytelling that gets to the heart of how Instagram has shaped our lives, whether you use the app or not” (The New York Times).

In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger released a photo-sharing app called Instagram, with one simple but irresistible feature: it would make anything you captured look more beautiful. The cofounders cultivated a community of photographers and artisans around the app, and it quickly went mainstream. In less than two years, it caught Facebook’s attention: Mark Zuckerberg bought the company for a historic $1 billion when Instagram had only thirteen employees.

That might have been the end of a classic success story. But the cofounders stayed on, trying to maintain Instagram’s beauty, brand, and cachet, considering their app a separate company within the social networking giant. They urged their employees to make changes only when necessary, resisting Facebook’s grow-at-all-costs philosophy in favor of a strategy that highlighted creativity and celebrity. Just as Instagram was about to reach a billion users, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg—once supportive of the founders’ autonomy—began to feel threatened by Instagram’s success.

Frier draws on unprecedented access—from the founders of Instagram, as well as employees, executives, and competitors; Anna Wintour of Vogue; Kris Jenner of the Kardashian-Jenner empire; and a plethora of influencers worldwide—to show how Instagram has fundamentally changed the way we show, eat, travel, and communicate, all while fighting to preserve the values which contributed to the company’s success. “Deeply reported and beautifully written” (Nick Bilton, Vanity Fair), No Filter examines how Instagram’s dominance acts as a lens into our society today, highlighting our fraught relationship with technology, our desire for perfection, and the battle within tech for its most valuable commodity: our attention.

Insightful

This is a great insight into the inside story of how Instagram became what it is today. I love the storytelling of the writer in providing account of events.

informative but not inspirational

A good narration of what happened at Instagram from day 1 to how it's today

It was just okay

Very interesting in the beginning, talking about the startup and even acquisition, but it jumped into Facebook ownership too soon. Would have been nice hearing more about the startup period. about halfway through, I was excited to get the book done with. It droned on about Facebook decisions battling Instagram decisions for the rest of the book.
FYI, the audible sample is much worse than the actual reader. the audible sample makes it sound terrible. It wasn't that bad.

Wow

I can’t believe how much I didn’t know about the history behind Instagram and how useful but also how toxic it can be. There was so much I learned and I loved the conclusion to this book, it was great! I really enjoyed this book!

Must Read for Marketing Disruptors

This is an incredible tale of social media and new media, one that we all must read and absorb, especially those in marketing and tech.

Eh

It’s goes downhill after the Facebook acquisition. felt like this book could’ve been condensed into 2-3hours. After the Facebook acquisition, which is really early on in the book, everything feels pushed.

Bright and Insightful

I loved the books pace and structure. It’s very helpful in getting to know the corporate culture of Meta.

Insightful Story on the History of Instagram

I enjoyed this book. It left me with mixed feelings towards Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, as well as Instagram. In general I felt it was a neutral portrayal of the facts and did not take sides with one or the other........ standing by for the Social Network Part 2

Great book

Good as both a business book and biography of Facebook and Instagram....also a interesting take on Zuckerberg.

Excellent

As a former employee, it was great reading this! The context provided is certainly not far off from the day to day of that course company