Instagram Co-founders Kevin System and Mike Krieger Resign

Tech

Instagram Co-founders Kevin System and Mike Krieger Resign

Instagram Co-founders resign from facebook amid rumors of clashes with Mark Zuckerberg . Social media always causes drama – even for the people who created it

According to a statement on Instagram’s press site, Monday, the popular app’s co-founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, are resigning from their positions as CEO and CTO six years after the image-sharing app was purchased by Facebook for $1 billion.

While the goodbye note penned by Systrom, 34, offers little reason for the departure, it does say that he and Krieger, 32, are “grateful for the last eight years at Instagram.”System continued: “We’ve grown from 13 people to over a thousand with offices around the world, all while building products used and loved by a community of over one billion. We’re now ready for our next chapter. We’re planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again.”

The statement concluded, “We remain excited for the future of Instagram and Facebook in the coming years as we transition from leaders to two users in a billion.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, responded to the news in a statement shared on Twitter.

“Kevin and Mike are extraordinary product leaders and Instagram reflects their combined creative talents. I’ve learned a lot working with them for the past six years and have really enjoyed it,” he wrote from the official Twitter account for Facebook. “I wish them all the best and I’m looking forward to seeing what they build next.”

Recode reported that Systrom’s and Krieger’s exit follows alleged fights with Zuckerberg, 34, namely over product changes, including commenting features and how to share content across platforms.

According to TechCrunch, the issue was whether Instagram should operate autonomously from Facebook in general. “[Facebook’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox] and [Systrom] never really got along,” a source claimed to the outlet.

The statement on the Instagram press site does not mention Zuckerberg nor any other influential Facebook execs, such as Sheryl Sandberg.

The major staffing change comes during a challenging time for Facebook, which is facing user privacy concerns and negative feedback for its involvement in the 2016 election. What’s more, the social media giant is distinctly less popular with younger generations than its photo-heavy counterpart.

Sources told Bloomberg that without its creators, Instagram will likely start to feel like more of an extension of Facebook rather than a separate social media service.

Instagram declined to comment further to PEOPLE.