IGTV – The next generation of video

Instagram announced two major achievements recently – the launch of its very own mobile video service called IGTV and that it is now a global community of one billion!

This Facebook-owned platform was launched in 2010 and has ever since crossed many milestones to become one of the most used apps among the millennials. On the other hand, Instagram’s latest feature, the IGTV, is a new app which will compete the current monopoly that YouTube runs.

IGTV is going to be a stand-alone app that can also be accessed via the Instagram app to watch long-form, vertical videos from your favorite creators and people. As soon as you open the app, it will directly start playing the videos of the users and brands you follow, as well as some others; Instagram’s algorithm thinks you might like based on your activity on the app. Let us clear it out for you, these aren’t the new ‘Stories’ but a completely different feature. On the app, you can find it’s access on the top right corner, next to your ‘messages’.

Instagram IGTV

Source: https://instagram-press.com/blog/2018/06/20/welcome-to-igtv/

So, what’s the difference between a story and the IGTV? The length of the video! On the Instagram story, the maximum length of a video can be 60 seconds or one minute. However, on IGTV, one can upload either 10 minutes or 60 minutes of maximum length (for a user it is 10 minutes, for an influencer or creator, it is 60 minutes).

There are four tabs for you to swipe through – For You, Following, Popular and Continue Watching. Each creator has their own channel, just like on YouTube. These channels can be accessed through their profile, too.

Instagram IGTV Video

Source: https://instagram-press.com/blog/2018/06/20/welcome-to-igtv/

Instagram’s business blog shares that people are watching less TV and more digital videos these days. They assume by 2021, mobile video will account for 78% of total mobile data traffic. And state that they noticed the young audience spending more time with amateur creators than the professionals.

Instagram’s CEO, Kevin Systrom, shared that the feature will not have any ads playing as of now but eventually, it may. He explains that since influencers and creators are investing a lot of time into the IGTV videos, he wants to make that sustainable with a monetization option. At the time of writing this blog, Facebook’s share price was up over 2.2 percent!

Instagram began as a sensation for its filters and as a huge platform for sharing photos. But, today, it is much more than that and is assumed to earn $5.48 billion in the U.S. ad revenue sector in 2018. IGTV will not only take videos to a new level, but it will also help influencers grow their audience. Though we cannot be sure whether YouTube or IGTV will be the future of videos. But for now, the winners are the creators who have two major platforms to capitalize on.

IGTV will evolve over time and could emerge as a unique feature that changes the way we look at videos today. Let’s wait and watch!

Watch this space for more Social Media news and updates!