People are finally getting into Instagram video, and to celebrate that, the photo-sharing app is rolling out longer videos.
Instagram recently added public view counts to videos so that users could see how often their 15-second clips were being viewed by followers, but we can assume the company also did it to encourage users, publishers, and advertisers to publish more videos. The measure must've worked, because the time people spent watching video increased by more than 40 per cent in the last six months, Instagram has announced.
During this time, Instagram also began letting advertisers extend their videos to 60 seconds (versus the 15 seconds they were limited to before). Instagram is now giving regular users the capability to record longer videos. Instagram introduced video in 2013, and clips have been capped to 15 seconds ever since, though starting today, they can now extend to a full minute, which could further encourage use of the feature.
Keep in mind when video was introduced Vine had just become popular and the idea of short, viral videos were a hit. Instagram video failed to catch on as rapidly as Vine however, but with this recent boost in usage, it looks like Instagram is interested in making some bold moves in order to help itself standout from the competition and be more useful to creators.
Speaking of creators, Instagram for iOS is getting its own update today that'll bring back the ability to create video using multiple clips from their camera rolls. That update is now rolling out on iOS. As for longer videos, Instagram said that feature will begin rolling out today as well but won't be available to everyone until the "coming months".