Say goodbye to Instagram’s vertical-only IGTV videos. The app recently announced its introduction of horizontal videos.
Co-founder Kevin Systrom’s initial vision for IGTV was to create a form of viewing that was exclusive to mobiles and didn’t exist elsewhere. Many users found this form of video suitable for more personal content, such as lifestyle series and makeup tutorials.
However, it also resulted in low quality exports of landscape videos to fit the portrait format, often accompanied with text to fill in the gaps.
Bowing to pressure from its competitors and the masses, Instagram recently re-adjusted its original vision for the video-sharing aspect of the social media platform.
Instagram has gradually started to listen to its users and began implementing changes to IGTV prior to this landscape video shift. The first major update they introduced was allowing creators to feature a one-minute preview of their IGTV videos on their regular feed, which increased exposure for their videos.
Instagram also adjusted the way IGTV videos are presented to users; previously there was a central feed organised categorically and now, based on an algorithm, they are suggested to the viewer. TechCrunch have alluded to the fact that this strategy strongly resembles that of their competitor, TikTok.
Now with the inclusion of landscape videos, Instagram Press have re-iterated their dedication to the needs of their content creators. With this new update, they aim to allow creators to have the platform to express their creativity more fully.
Horizontal viewing means not only can Instagrammers create videos with more people, and feature wide shots of dancing, fitness routines and other sports, but, also, creators don’t have to film multiple times. If they are uploading a video to YouTube, they can use their original content instead of having to re-design their concept to be more vertical-friendly.
However, perhaps the largest of all requests from influencers that Instagram has yet to address is the issue of monetisation. With all the updates to IGTV, the number of views and exposure of videos are maximised, however there is no way for creators to really profit from the increased views.
As of now, IGTV has no option for ad placement or a place for video creators to sell services or merchandise. Their largest competitor, YouTube, has a massive advantage of monetisation for content creators; Instagram will need to adapt in order to compete.
Instagram, however, has demonstrated its flexibility and willingness to listen to its users, viewers and creators alike.
We’re eagerly awaiting to see what their next development of IGTV will be.
What do you think of the new update? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Anushé Samee. Photo credit: Shutterstock.