We're live from SXSW Interactive 2014!

We're live on the ground at South By Southwest (#SXSW for short), the annual event that brings together everyone and anyone who's invested in the interactive arts. Those artists include the minds behind emerging startups (like Twitter was here in 2007), as well as established innovators like Mark Cuban and even Grumpy Cat.

We're already off to a great start: we've seen a man get stunned by the Chaotic Unmanned Personal Intercept Drone and had a chance to punch virtual sharks with the Oculus Rift and Leap Motion. But, there's more to come over the next few days, including riding MarioKart in real life, separate virtual conversations with Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, Shaq and much more.

Here's how to keep up with us at SXSW, after the break.

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Instagram: For half our users, we're a daily addiction

joan_e

Instagram is a daily habit for more than half of the photo-sharing social network's users, said co-founder Kevin Systrom at a press event Thursday.

He also said photos taken with the app has more than quadrupled from 86 billion in 2000 to 360 billion in 2011.

The main event of the press conference was the unveiling of Instagram direct messaging

Check out CNET's live coverage of Instagram's event Thursday

Ahead of the event, it was unclear just what the photo-sharing social network would announce, and speculation ranged from a photo-printing service -- based on the odd form of the invites -- to a private messaging service that could rival Snapchat and WhatsApp.

Related stories:Instagram invites press to 'share a moment' at NYC eventInstagrammers go turkey-wild with Thanksgiving Day photosInstagram and Twitter: It's complicated

Recent press reports have suggested that the photo-sharing social network is gearing up to introduce a private messaging service within its photo and video app. It also reportedly has been experimenting with group messaging.

Instagram has grown rapidly in the three years since it launched. With 150 million active users worldwide and a sale to Facebook for $1 billion last year, it recently started running advertisements in an effort to monetize its business.

Topics: Facebook, Video Tags: New York, Instagram, Facebook

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