Instagram CEO Meets With the Pope to Discuss the Power of Images Kevin Systrom presented a book of 10 images from the photo sharing platform to Pope Francis.
By Carly Okyle
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Sure, those #nofilter images of your tropical vacation are cool, but they can't beat a selfie with His Holiness at the Apostolic Palace.
Google's Eric Schmidt had his 15 minutes with the Holy See, and now Instagram's founder and CEO Kevin Systrom had the opportunity for some face time with Pope Francis when the two met Friday to discuss the power of images. Systrom illustrated his point by bringing a book of 10 images from the photo sharing platform, Time reports.The book included pictures from the earthquake in Nepal, the protests in Baltimore and the refugee crisis in the Middle East.
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A photo posted by Catholic News Agency (@catholicnewsagency) on Feb 26, 2016 at 8:02am PST
Last year, Systrom told Time, "We believe you can see the world happening in real time through Instagram. And I think that's true whether it's Taylor Swift's 1989 tour … or an important moment like a protest overseas, or a march like "Je suis Charlie' in Paris … [At] the end of the day, there's no better way to consume what's happening in the world other than images and video."
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Accompanying Systrom were two other Instagram executives: Charles Porch, who is in charge of the company's global creative programs, and David Swan, head of communications.
Founded in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012, Instagram now has more than 400 million users. Though Pope Francis does not have an instagram account, he is on Twitter.
