Instagram to add 90-minute video format
Instagram is getting ready to roll out a new longform video format that allows creators to upload videos up to 90 minutes long on the app.
To be called Features, the new format's capacity for long-form video is a significant leap from Instagram Reels, where uploaded videos can only be up to 20 minutes long. However, it's still a far cry from YouTube, where creators with verified accounts can upload videos up to 12 hours long.
The latest development was prompted by the changing manner in how people are connecting with each other through online content, said Tessa Lyons, Instagram vice president of Product.
In a video message with Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted on their platform on Tuesday, Oct. 27, Lyons explained the idea behind the video format expansion.
"There's just so much different formats now happening around creativity and storytelling on video that we wanna make sure that we do a good job of serving," Lyons said.
"We've been hearing for a long time that people love to watch Reels together in their living rooms with their friends. So we've been working on a TV version of Reels. And we know that to do that well, we need more than just short-form video," she added.
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The new format, which Mosseri said will start rolling out this month, is designed to complement the existing Reels feature.
"[We're] trying to make it so that the short form and the long form video can be symbiotic, where you can have things where you have both the long feature but also the short Reels," Mosseri said.
Features will have both mobile and TV iterations, which both Instagram executives are excited about. Clips of the long-form video will appear on Reels, which can serve as a teaser for users to continue watching on TV when they get home.
"We really are meeting you in whatever moment that you're in," said Lyons.
