Instagram is testing a new format for long-form videos called Features. It allows select creators to upload horizontal videos running up to 90 minutes long. Instagram has already tested the new format with creators in Brazil, and now, it’s expanding to tens of thousands of creators across the US.
How will Instagram’s new Features format work?
Features is built for podcasters, comedians, and other creators who create content longer than Instagram’s usual three-minute Reels. Tessa Lyons, VP of Product at Instagram, explained that you’ll be able to click on a short clip of a podcast you love and jump straight into the full-length podcast or video behind it.
These videos will also be recommended through Explore and other sections on Instagram. There’s no exclusivity tied to such videos, so creators can post the same content elsewhere too. Existing ad placements will carry over into these longer videos, and Instagram says it’ll help creators without current brand deals find new ones.
Instagram Features videos are built for your TV, not just your phone
Features will work on your phone, but Instagram wants you watching on a bigger screen instead. Lyons said horizontal, long-form content simply works better on a big screen, where most of the watching will eventually happen. That’s where Instagram for TV comes in, which is already live on Samsung, Fire TV, and Google TV, and now expanding to Apple TV.
Instagram is also experimenting with Series, a home for episodic Reels on creator profiles, as interest in microdramas grows. It plans to test Series in more countries and bring it to the US by the end of this year or early next year. Separately, Instagram is testing live videos in the Reels tab and surfacing them to people who don’t follow the broadcaster. The test is launching in Indonesia and Brazil, with a US expansion planned for next year.
Instagram’s strategy is clear, using short clips to pull viewers toward longer content while competing for more of their total viewing time. It’s clearly chasing the same audience YouTube has locked down for years.
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