Instagram has grown over the years and now the Instagram TV is about to go live. Ever since the platform was acquired by Facebook, it has experienced a major boost in design and users. Instagram is now five times the size of Snapchat in terms of active users and the numbers aren’t dropping anytime soon.
After conquering Snapchat, Mark Zuckerberg is going after YouTube and this time he means business. Instagram TV or popularly called IGTV will be a separate app and at the same time exist as a tab on your Instagram profile.
Instagram co-founder, Kevin Systrom stressed that people are now obsessively spending time on Instagram these days. With the platform boasting of over 1 billion monthly active users. Videos on Instagram TV can now go as long as ten minutes, instead of the typical one minute video the platform is known for. Although, creators with massive audiences can post up to 60 minutes of video.
No words were said about monetization because that’s where YouTube strives. However, Instagram TV videos won’t be live but pre-recorded. Nonetheless, Ashley Yuki, who is an Instagram product manager indicated that live video is something the company will be looking at in the future.
When you use the IGTV app, you’ll experience a new form of Instagram filled with videos from the people you follow. The videos will display as a series of rectangular thumbnails at the bottom of a creator’s page. You just need to tap one and the video pops up and goes full screen. You can like the video, comment and share as usual.
You can download the Instagram TV app on Playstore to experience the full features or experience it as a feature within the main Instagram app. This is just like what the company did with Boomerang and what Facebook did with Messenger.
IGTV is all about Instagram support long-form video, which the younger generation is particularly obsessed with. According to a research, teenagers are watching 40 percent less TV than they did just five years ago and 90 percent more online videos on social media. With teenagers enjoying watching videos recorded on a smartphone than on TV.
Overall, Instagram TV will be ready to tackle YouTube’s 1.9 billion monthly logged-in users. Instagram is banking on the celebrities using the platform to make IGTV more popular and already-popular creators like Lele Pons, who has more than 25 million Instagram followers.
Even though there won’t be ads on IGTV to start, they’re definitely coming soon enough. “Right now we’re focused on building engagement, and there are no ads in IGTV in day one,” Systrom said to a group of reporters after the event. He also stressed there will obviously be a way for creators to make a living since they spend their lives doing this.
