Instagram is getting rid of IGTV, Sort of
Instagram is getting rid of IGTV, like
Instagram is finally admitting that IGTV, its first big push into video, didn't pan out.
Today, the company is rebranding IGTV as "Instagram TV" and getting rid of the exclusive IGTV video format. Videos posted to the main Instagram feed can now last up to 60 minutes — a length previously reserved for IGTV videos — and you no longer have to leave the main app to watch them.
An Instagram spokesperson says the IGTV app, now called the Instagram TV app, will continue to be "a movement destination for people with the intention of watching videos."
IGTV was introduced in June 2018 and was essentially meant to be the mobile equivalent of YouTube, creating a niche for searching and watching longer videos. But the longer format never caught on. And just two months later, an app called TikTok launched in the US.
Instagram has since refocused its video efforts to rival TikTok with its short video format Reels. Reels launched in August 2020, and Instagram has moved aggressively with them, giving them a central place in the app's navigation, selling ads and adding them to Facebook's News Feed. Being cross-posted in .
Reels still has one major drawback, though: it doesn't provide a consistent way for creators to get paid, as YouTube and TikTok do. Facebook plans to pay creators $1 billion by the end of 2022. Some of that money has gone to reel makers, but it's not a dedicated system for paying video makers - always a good way to encourage people to make things on your app.
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