The story of Instagram is one of the best Silicon Valley stories that exists today. Not only did the application take 8 weeks to be created/launched on to the app store, it also got acquired by Facebook for $1 billion about 18 months later. One of the most interesting details of the Instagram story is that Kevin Systrom (a cofounder) had no formal training in computer science, but learned how to code at night and during the weekends.
While it is said that Kevin was introduced to computer programming while he attended school in Massachusetts, it is believed that his interest grew from playing Doom II and creating his own levels as a child. His ties to gaming do not stop just there. In 2010, his thought to combine location check-ins and a popular social network game (Mafia Wars) led to the creation of Burbn, the application that inspired and preceded Instagram.
Doom II is a video game in which you are tasked with saving the Earth from demons using a variety of weapons that can be picked up throughout the game. The game is broken into levels, which are completed by finding an exit for them. Mafia Wars is a social network game where you assume the role of a gangster in your quest to build your own mafia organization. You are tasked to complete jobs, missions and operations to build strength and rewards in a game that never ends.
Both video games have associated benefits and skills that can be developed from playing it. These include resource management, attention to detail, anxiety management and spatial thinking. Should we ultimately thank Doom II and Mafia Wars for guiding Kevin toward building an application used by millions of people everyday? I will let you be the judge of that. However, the next time you pick up a game, think about the fact that one of the most successful people on this Earth got his idea by doing the same.
