Instagram chases YouTube with a push for longer, widescreen videos

is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.

Instagram is announcing a big push into longform horizontal video, which the platform is calling “Features.”

Instagram boss Adam Mosseri has been against doing longform video on the platform “for a long time,” he says in a six-and-a-half-minute video (here’s the widescreen version) with VP of product Tessa Lyons, saying that “one of my concerns has been, how do we make sure that we keep Instagram not just about entertainment, but about connecting with friends. If you watch a longform video, that’s “it’s a lot of Reels, photos, and carousels that you might not have sent to a friend,” meaning less likes and shares.

Now, though, the team is working on making shortform and longform video “symbiotic,” according to Mosseri, like podcasts or comedy specials that can be both long videos and broken up into shorter ones.

The announcement of this widescreen video push also follows the launch of Instagram’s TV app late last year. That app launched first as a Reels-focused experience and as a pilot for Amazon Fire TV devices in the US, but it’s since expanded to Google TVs, Samsung TVs and Apple TV, and Instagram launched new features like the ability to watch Stories earlier this year.

Mosseri also talked about the updates with creators Samir Chaudry and Colin Rosenblum, and their video includes some clips of how longform video will show up on the platform.

Today, Features are expanding to the US in a small test and is in testing with some creators in Brazil, according to Instagram spokesperson Megan Buckley. Instagram is testing a few other video-focused features as well, including clips pointing to a long video, a way for creators to create a “series” of Reels, and improvements for live video discovery.

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