It seems like the news never stops coming from Menlo park these days. While everyone is getting restless about Instagram killing its chronological feed, the platform is starting to test a new video format that allows users to share longer videos, of up to 60 seconds. And that’s great news!
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Video is the fastest-growing medium on Instagram. Over the past 6 months, the time people spent watching video on the platform has increased by a staggering 40%! And that explains why Instagram wants to improve the whole video experience for users.
Starting immediately, you will be able to record and share videos as long as 60 seconds. The update is available to selected users, both on iOS and Android, and it should roll out to all users, both verified and non-verified… “in the coming months.”
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The news comes after advertisers were granted this longer format a few weeks ago. It obviously has been a success among brands, and Instagram believes it will soon be appreciated by users as well.
Instagram is also bringing back the ability to make videos from multiple clips from the camera roll. And that, is really good news!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDi3QxTBQWd/
Video as a format was added to Instagram back in June 2013, almost 3 years ago already. At the time, you could upload 15-second videos and apply one of 13 filters. But it was always the plan to develop the video capabilities of Instagram, as Mark Zuckerberg had explained at the time
[quote]We’re really just getting started with this product.[/quote]
A lot had changed since then of course: more filters, more tools, Instagram Direct and more recently, the ability to switch between profiles!
There is no real proof that longer videos were something users really wanted from the platform. I personally doubt that a 1-minute video will become the norm, especially with the looping format, but it will certainly give more flexibility for users to create meaningful clips.
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