---
title: "Which came first, Harry Potter or Instagram?"
description: "Harry Potter vs Instagram: Harry Potter came first, by 13 years — 1997 against 2010. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/harry-potter-vs-instagram/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Harry Potter or Instagram?

**Which came first, Harry Potter or Instagram?: Harry Potter**

1997 — 13 years before Instagram

Harry Potter came first, by 13 years. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK.

## Side by side

|  | Harry Potter | Instagram |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1997 | 2010 |
| Date | 1997-06-26 | 2010-10-06 |
| Category | media | technology |
| What happened | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK. | The app launched on iOS. |

## Harry Potter

Bloomsbury published the first book in June 1997 with a print run of 500 copies, most of which went to libraries, after twelve other publishers had rejected the manuscript. The company's chairman gave the first chapter to his eight-year-old daughter, who demanded the rest. It came out the same year as Netflix was founded and a year before Google.

## Instagram

Instagram launched in October 2010 as an iPhone-only app and took 25,000 users on its first day. Facebook bought it in April 2012 for about $1 billion when it had thirteen employees and no revenue. It is four years younger than Twitter and six years older than TikTok.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Harry Potter or Instagram?

Harry Potter, by 13 years — 1997 against 2010.

### When did Harry Potter start?

1997. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK.

### When did Instagram start?

2010. The app launched on iOS.

## Related pages

- [Apple or Harry Potter?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/apple-vs-harry-potter/)
- [the internet (ARPANET) or Instagram?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/arpanet-vs-instagram/)
- [email or Instagram?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/email-vs-instagram/)
- [Amazon or Instagram?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/amazon-vs-instagram/)
- [Amazon or Harry Potter?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/amazon-vs-harry-potter/)
- [Google or Instagram?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/google-vs-instagram/)
- [Google or Harry Potter?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/google-vs-harry-potter/)
- [Facebook or Instagram?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/facebook-vs-instagram/)
- [Facebook or Harry Potter?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/facebook-vs-harry-potter/)
- [Android or Instagram?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/android-vs-instagram/)
- [Android or Harry Potter?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/android-vs-harry-potter/)
- [Instagram or the Macintosh?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/instagram-vs-macintosh/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]