[System Design Tech Case Study Pulse #46] 500+ Million Daily Users : How Instagram Stories Actually Work
Tech you must know....with flowchart and explanations how it works..
Hi All,
Instagram Stories is a tech marvel, capable of delivering ephemeral content to 500 million daily active users in real-time.
This system forms the backbone of one of Instagram's most popular features, enabling users to share and consume short-lived photos and videos seamlessly.
Let's dive deep into how this system works, following the journey of a Story from creation to viewer consumption, and exploring the impressive metrics behind each step .
System Overview
Before we begin our journey, let's look at some key overall metrics of Instagram Stories:
- Daily active users: 500 million
- Stories created daily: Over 1 billion
- Peak creation rate: Over 100,000 Stories per second
- Average Story view time: < 1 second
- Content types: Photos, videos, boomerangs, live streams
- Maximum Story duration: 15 seconds per segment
- Story lifetime: 24 hours
- Global reach: Available in 150+ countries
- Supported devices: iOS, Android, Web
- System availability: 99.99% uptime achieved in 2023
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Now, let me walk through the Story creation and consumption process and see how these numbers translate to real-world performance.
How things Work —
1. Story Creation and Upload
The journey begins when a user creates a new Story: