Instagram users are about to see a whole lot more of their followers — in their videos, that is.
Instagram announced on Tuesday that it is expanding its video limit to now let users record longer 60-second clips.
"We want to bring you fun, flexible and creative ways to create and watch video on Instagram," the company writes in a blog post. "As part of our continued commitment, you'll soon have the flexibility to tell your story in up to 60 seconds of video."
This is an impressive increase compared with the short 15-second video length the company previously allowed its users to post in the app.
The company already allows advertisers to post one-minute video ads, so this change will not affect them.
Instagram also announced that it will once again let iOS users make videos out of multiple clips from their camera roll. Users can do so by tapping on the Instagram icon to upload a video, select as many clips you want to use and hit Next. At the bottom of the screen, the user can then tap to trim the videos, tap and hold them to reorder them or drag a clip to the middle of the screen to delete it. Don't forget to also add a filter, caption and location.
The popular social media photo app first introduced its video feature in June 2013. This newfound emphasis on video is just another way the Facebook-owned company is following in its parent company's shoes. Allowing users to record longer videos seems to be a way to get more people sharing and watching videos in the app.
Instagram revealed in a blog post that, in the past six months, the amount of time users spent watching videos in the app increased by more than 40 percent.
The blog post states that the 60-second video is just one of the many new features users will see this year when it comes to telling their stories.
The app also added other video features recently, including the video counter that lets users see how many views their clip received. This feature is especially beneficial for advertisers, and may encourage them to continue to release more ads on the platform.
Instagram is also showcasing videos in its Explore tab more tailored to events or specific topics.
It should come to no surprise that Instagram would want to focus on videos, especially since Snapchat continues to be users' favorite platform for sharing short clips of their lives. Facebook too has shifted its focus on videos, recently rolling out its Live video feature.
While the news of being able to share longer videos may please users, people are still up in arms over the other big changes to the app: the algorithm-based timelines and "turn on notifications" posts. At least this is one change we can stand behind.
The longer videos on Instagram will start rolling out today, and will become available to all users in the coming months. Apple users can update to version 7.19 of the app to use multi-clip videos.
Source: Instagram
