Instagram chases YouTube with a push for longer, widescreen videos
Instagram is announcing a big push into longform horizontal video, which the platform is calling "Features." Instagram boss Adam Mosseri has been against doing longform video on the platform "for a long time," he says in a six-and-a-half-minute video (here's the widescreen version) with VP of product Tessa Lyons, saying that "one of my concerns […]
Instagram is making a push into longform horizontal video, launching a new format called "Features." The move comes after Instagram boss Adam Mosseri expressed concerns about maintaining the platform's focus on connecting with friends. In a video featuring VP of product Tessa Lyons, Mosseri explained that he initially opposed longform video, fearing it would lead to users consuming fewer likes and shares.
However, the team is now working to make shortform and longform video "symbiotic" to complement each other. This announcement follows Instagram's launch of a TV app last year, which initially served as a Reels-focused experience and a pilot on Amazon Fire TV devices in the US. The app has since been expanded to Google TVs, Samsung TVs, and Apple TVs, and now features the ability to watch Stories.
Instagram has also introduced new video-focused features such as clips prompting viewers to watch a longer video, a way for creators to produce a "series" of Reels, and enhancements for live video discovery. The "Features" are currently rolling out to the US in a small test and are being trialed with some creators in Brazil. Additional video-focused features are also in development.
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