Instagram video duration has been increased from fifteen seconds to sixty seconds (1 minute).
Moreover, the app owned by Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), has begun to give in better service to its users to search and view content.
Some changes have emerged a day before over Alphabet [Android] and Apple [iOS]. App’s Explorer tab now incorporates a videos you might like section that collects videos from across Instagram’s global community into a *seamless viewing experience.Correspondingly, when a user scrolls down the Explore grid, he/she is able to find featured channels with videos related to particular topics .
(*videos can be played back-to-back without looping, creating a television-esque viewing experience)
Instagram took on this initiative to challenge mobile app, Snapchat with its Live Stories feature and social giant, Twitter that usually gets a lot of viewership for breaking news. Likewise, videos unfolding news events placed front and center over its app could make it a go-to option for most of the users out there in market, or it could simply keep them in pace to anxiously wait for the next press outbreak – instead of scrolling their fingers on Twitter to find out latest tally.
On a related note, video sharing service, YouTube has built considerable brand presence revolving around videos as of late. Even Vine, an app providing its users with 6-second video loops, has introduced a new Watchfeature letting brands to create a series of videos (combined to form a full story).
The popular platform for users to capture/edit/share their photos, is shrewder in its recent efforts to boost a video service in times when visual viewing is as simple as single touch. Certainly, this new launch would assist the company to rake in more revenue from brands.
Instagram claims that “even with these changes, Explore still works the same way, [connecting] you to posts about your interests from people you don’t yet follow” (source: official blog cited by Bidness ETC)
