Estimate the number of photos uploaded daily to Instagram

Estimate the total number of photos uploaded to Instagram per day across Feed posts, Stories, Carousels, and Direct Messages (DMs).

Context

Instagram has approximately 2 billion Monthly Active Users (MAU) and ~1.2 billion Daily Active Users (DAU).

Clarifying questions to ask first

Are we counting photos only or converting video frames/Reels into photo equivalents? (Strictly photos)
Do DMs count? (Yes, all uploaded photos).

How to approach it

Segment DAU by upload formats: Permanent Feed Photos, Ephemeral Stories, Direct Messages (DMs), and Profile/Cover updates
Estimate the creator-to-consumer ratio (1% heavy creators, 9% casual posters, 90% passive lurkers/viewers)
Calculate average photos per story and multi-image carousel posts
Compute total daily photo ingestion volume

Framework: Total Daily Photos = (Feed Photos) + (Story Photos) + (DM Photos) = Sum of (Active Uploaders in Format × Avg Photos/Uploader)

Sample answer

DAU = 1.2 Billion users
Stories: ~500M daily story posters × 2 photos = ~1.0 Billion story photos/day
Feed & Carousels: ~100M daily feed posters × avg 2.5 photos = ~250 Million feed photos/day
Direct Messages (DMs): ~300M active DM users × 1.5 photos = ~450 Million DM photos/day

Total daily uploads = 1.0B (Stories) + 0.25B (Feed) + 0.45B (DMs) = ~1.7 Billion photos/day
Storage check: 1.7B photos × 2 MB compressed = ~3.4 Petabytes of new photo storage daily

Executive estimate: ~1.5 to 1.8 Billion photos uploaded daily to Instagram (~60% Stories, ~25% DMs, ~15% Feed Posts), consuming ~3.5 PB of raw daily storage.

What interviewers look for

DAU Anchor (~1.2B)
Creator vs Consumer Funnel (1-9-90 Rule)
Format Decomposition (Stories vs Feed vs DMs)
Sanity Check on Daily Storage (Petabytes)