In a society that favours individualism – where we all have so many thoughts to think, so many words to say – Twitter’s 140 character count can feel restrictive. So it's hardly surprising that the generation with an answer for everything has found a way to hack the Twittersphere.

Trying to get down with Gen Y and Z, the New York Times is going all in on Instagram. From food to fashion, each of its teams has its own newsfeed and a main account will act as a hub between them. But will a leading print publisher translate well to the image-heavy social network?

Is Instagram becoming the new shopping centre? It seems so, since one of the biggest names in fashion publishing – Vogue – is making its Instagram feed 'shoppable'. But can Vogue translate its 1.9 million followers and reputation as a taste-maker into significant sales?

In December 2014 Instagram announced that it has been seeing upwards of 300 million active monthly users – overtaking Twitter's 284 million active users. Instagram grew exponentially in 2014, seeing a 50% increase in just nine months.