Instagram announces a big step forward in long-form horizontal video, which the platform calls “Features”.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri has opposed the creation of long-form videos on the platform “for a long time,” he said in a six-and-a-half minute video (here’s the big screen version) with VP of Product Tessa Lyons, saying that “one of my concerns has been how do we make sure that we keep Instagram not just for entertainment, but also for connecting with friends. If you’re watching a long-form video, It’s “that’s a lot of reels, photos, and carousels that you might not have sent to a friend,” which means fewer likes and shares.
Now, however, the team is working to make short and long videos “symbiotic,” according to Mosseri, like podcasts or comedy specials that can be both long videos and broken up into shorter videos.
The announcement of this big-screen video broadcast also follows the launch of Instagram’s TV app late last year. This app first launched as a Reels-focused experiment and as a pilot for Amazon Fire TV devices in the US, but it has since expanded to Google TVs, Samsung TVs, and Apple TV, and Instagram launched new features such as the ability to watch Stories earlier this year.
Mosseri also spoke about the updates with creators Samir Chaudry and Colin Rosenblum, and their video includes some snippets of how the long-form video will appear on the platform.
Today, the features are expanding to the United States in a small test and are being tested with select creators in Brazil, according to Instagram spokesperson Megan Buckley. Instagram is also testing a few other video-focused features, including clips pointing to a long video, a way for creators to create a “series” of Reels, and improvements to live video discovery.
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