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, theNew York Timesis 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 canVoguetranslate 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.