So long, IGTV, we knew thee... not very well at all, actually
Instagram has been making the push into video for quite a while. It was 4 years ago when the company launched IGTV, which — perplexingly — was both a separate app but also a feature within the main Instagram app.
The idea for IGTV was to be that next video-sharing platform that allows creators to post long-form vertical videos and tap into their Insta follower demographic. However, 4 years later, it seems the experiment was not a fruitful one. Vertical video is just... weird for long content. Paradoxically, it seems TikTok is about to make the same experiment by allowing 10 minute videos on its own platform. It'd be curious if that fails as well.
Back to Instagram — yes, 28th of February is the day that marks the death of IGTV. The IGTV app will be taken down and Instagram will continue hosting both photos and videos within the same app. As if that's a novel idea.
Everything IGTV related is getting rebranded either to Reels or In-Stream video, depending on what feature you are looking for.
It's a pretty interesting time for video content. Powers are shifting in unpredictable directions, and the companies are making very different moves. TikTok absolutely smashed the competition with its short form content, becoming the most popular app for 2021. In reaction, Instagram and YouTube both introduced their own short video features — Reels and Shorts.
For Insta, Reels work just fine and the framework for them was already in place. On YouTube... Shorts are kind of awkward, as they tend to mess your channel's layout up, and they are frowned upon by certain parts of the creator community.
As mentioned above — while the established giants are reacting, newcomer TikTok is now pushing for 10 minute videos. Will it have the power to smash YouTube? I am skeptical, as the creators and consumers that flock to TikTok choose to do so exactly for the to-the-point videos that can be both fun to create and to watch on repeat. Creators will definitely find it challenging to make 10-minute videos that actually get someone to hold their phone up for the entire duration, without swiping up off to the next one.
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