Instagram user base surpasses Twitter by

Instagram, the photo-sharing mobile application, now has more users than Twitter Inc and will improve the quality of its service by deleting fake accounts.

Instagram, owned by Menlo Park, California-based Facebook Inc, said on Thursday that its monthly active users rose to 300 million this month from 200 million in March, not counting spammers. That exceeds the 284 million users Twitter said it had in October. Instagram will also begin to verify public figures as well as brands.

It's been about a year since Instagram started making advertising available. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been focused on increasing the number of users of the company's separate mobile apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, before implementing new ways to drive revenue.

"Instagram is adding an average of 360,000 new active users a day; for comparison, Twitter is adding 160,000 new users a day," Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W Baird & Co, said on Thursday in a tweet.

Twitter declined to comment on Instagram's announcement. San Francisco-based Twitter has recently been on a campaign to promote its prospects after several quarters of slowing user growth and questions about whether it can ever reach the scale of Facebook, which has about 1.3 billion members. Monthly active user count at Twitter rose 23 per cent in the third quarter, down from 24 per cent growth the prior quarter.

Instagram said on an average, its users share 70 million photos a day.

About 70 per cent of the users are now outside the US, an increase from 65 per cent in March, according to the statement. More than 30 billion photos have now been shared on the app.

When accounts for public figures on Instagram are verified, they will now receive a badge for their authenticity, much like how they do on Twitter and Facebook.

"We're committed to doing everything possible to keep Instagram free from the fake and spammy accounts that plague much of the Web," Kevin Systrom, CEO of Instagram, said in a statement today.

• 300 million is Instagram's monthly active users base in December. It was 200 million in March
   
• 284 million was the number of Twitter users in October
   
• Instagram adding an average of 360,000 new active users a day
   
• Twitter is adding 160,000 new users a day
   
• Instagram's users share 70 million photos a day and 70 per cent of the users are now outside the US