Expanding Beyond the Feed: Instagram's Long-Form Ambitions

In a strategic push to capture the lucrative long-form video market, Meta-owned Instagram has begun testing a new capability allowing select creators to upload horizontal videos lasting up to 90 minutes. This development marks a significant shift for a platform traditionally anchored in square images and short-form Reels.

The feature, currently undergoing limited trials with creators in the United States following initial rollouts in Brazil, is engineered specifically to accommodate extended content formats such as full-length video podcasts, comedy specials, and deep-dive tutorials.

Seamless Integration with Reels

According to platform leadership, the user experience is designed to bridge short-form discovery with long-form consumption. Viewers who encounter a snippet or teaser of a podcast within the standard Reels feed will be provided with a direct pathway to transition into the complete, uninterrupted video without navigating away from the platform.

Tessa Lyons, Instagram's Vice President of Product, emphasized that the update is intended to provide creators with robust tools to distribute comprehensive content and deepen audience engagement.

"What you're now going to be able to do is, you see a clip of a podcast that you love, you can just click and continue watching or watch the full video, and you'll be able to dive in and see the whole thing because creators are going to be able to link these Reels to their overall feature," Lyons explained during a product briefing.

A History of Long-Form Experimentation

This latest initiative represents Instagram's most aggressive bid yet to rival established long-form video giants like YouTube. The company's previous attempt at dedicated long-form content, the standalone IGTV platform launched in 2018, struggled to achieve mass adoption and was ultimately discontinued in 2022.

Industry analysts note that by integrating long-form video directly into the main application rather than forcing users onto a separate app, Instagram has adopted a more cohesive strategy for retaining user attention.

Big Screen Push and Episodic Series

Alongside the 90-minute video tests, Instagram is actively expanding its ecosystem for connected living room devices. The platform is optimizing its viewing experience for smart TV interfaces including Apple TV, Samsung TVs, and Google TV, signaling an intent to compete directly for living room screen time.

Furthermore, the platform is piloting a feature dubbed 'Series,' which enables creators to systematically organize related short-form videos into structured, episodic collections, mirroring traditional television and streaming playlist formats.

While Instagram has not yet disclosed a definitive timeline for a wider public rollout of the 90-minute video capability, the current testing phase underscores the platform's determination to evolve into a primary destination for digital video creators and consumers alike.