Instagram Allows Longer Videos In Challenge To YouTube (nbcnews.com)

On Wednesday, Instagram launched a new long-form video portal called IGTV, "marking one of the biggest shifts in the app's history," reports NBC News. The new app will rival YouTube, allowing people to post videos up to one hour in length and start their own channels. One of the key differences between IGTV and YouTube will be the user interface: IGTV will be in the vertical format. From the report: IGTV will be a part of Instagram's explore tab and will also be a standalone app, where people can watch vertical videos from "many hundreds of creators" who Instagram worked with to help populate the platform ahead of the launch. Some accounts have privileges letting them post videos lasting as long as an hour, co-founder Kevin Systrom said.

"Right now, we are focused on building engagement, and right now, there are no ads in IGTV from day one," Systrom said, adding that he sees an opportunity for creators to monetize their followings in the future, similar to how they already can on YouTube. Systrom said IGTV is run by a small team, but noted that the company would be staffing up its moderation team to ensure content on the new platform adheres to Instagram's rules.

Comments

Yeah..

[Mr0bvious]

Vertical format videos. That sounds awesome.

sigh.

Re: Yeah..

[cayenne8]

I wonder if they'll ban gun videos too, or any other perfectly legal activities/topics....that might go against their political bent?

Re:Yeah..

[jetkust]

Vertical video is only a problem if you are holding you're phone horizontally, which is an unnatural way to hold a phone IMO, plus you likely have to use two hands. Yes it screws up the resolution for laptops, TVs, etc... But Instagram isn't designed for that. They made the right choice, and at worst it likely didn't matter either way because people are still going to hold their phone vertically even if the video was shot horizontally.

Re:Yeah..

[datavirtue]

Vertical? Do they mean portrait orientation? In the information age it seems people keep getting dumber--and are having trouble communicating.

Re:Yeah..

[datavirtue]

Right. So make it adapt, its the way the phones were designed and the user expects that the experience will change based on their preferences.

I wanted a YouTube competitor,,,

[Anonymous Coward]

But not this.

Re:I wanted a YouTube competitor,,,

[Riceballsan]

agreed there, many of us wish for a non corporate controlled manipulating the hell out of you with data information etc... but owned by facebook isn't exactly a step up from owned by google. personally I think pornhub might be the best hope if they chose to get into the game. A company with budget, experiene hosting large amounts of video... and from what I can tell pretty good discression.

I don't get it

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess I'm weird because I like to watch longer videos on my TV or laptop. I can't imagine spending an hour holding up my phone passively watching something.

Re:I don't get it

[Anonymous Coward]

cre!mer has nice iPhone 6S selfie stick he uses to film his youtube videos to sell on his website.

Just stick it somewhere and watch your movie without having to hold the phone.

Problem solved!

Max limits

[bn-7bc]

Ok so what is the max lrnght and/oe filesize on instagram if it less than 12 hoers or 128GB (as usual which ever is smaller) how does instagram expect to impress enyone? And yes I know, to get those limits you have tto verify your youtube acvount, big deal

Re:Max limits

[drinkypoo]

Most videos don't need to be any longer than five minutes to deliver their meaningful content. They just get padded out with a bunch of bullshit to make them longer, or people are so full of themselves that they ramble senselessly on the basis that all their words are golden.

Re:Max limits

[datavirtue]

So true. If I here a bunch of talking before getting to the meat of the video I just try to find another one. Video is for fast information. A lot of them sound like they are reading their SEO-jacked blog post.

Re:Max limits

[bn-7bc]

Yea I was way, off instagram is not actually uset for tutorials thst minfht need to be long, or youtt UHD HDR masterpece which migth require a larger file size limit, maybe I was sort of put int a mndset by the title instagram takes on yputube, and forg got that the use cases are rather different

Re:"vertical format"

[mccalli]

Yeah, targeting the one demographic that's always on their phones sounds like a really bad idea...

The more the SJW censor

[AHuxley]

the more other brands can welcome content.

Vertical Video Syndrome - a PSA

[OzPeter]

From 6 fridge years ago Vertical Video Syndrome - A PSA

Don't people ever learn??

Re:Vertical Video Syndrome - a PSA

[OzPeter]

Damn auto correct turning friggin into Fridge

Public service

[drinkypoo]

One of the key differences between IGTV and YouTube will be the user interface: IGTV will be in the vertical format.

Let's hope all the dillholes who currently post their vertical videos to YT take them to IGTV instead. Then I can just never, ever go to IGTV and my user experience will be improved.

Good

[nightfire-unique]

YouTube desperately needs some legit competition.

Controls....

[Vrallis]

Maybe we'll finally get a fucking volume control on videos?

Re: Facebook is libtard enough

[LostMyBeaver]

Ok... Iâ€(TM)m stupid for responding.

What naziâ€(TM)s, and most other insane groups have always had in common is that they consolidated power and attempted to narrow their nations to a single party who could unilaterally make decisions without checks and balances.

While I have absolutely no respect for any political parties and especially no respect for people who seem to believe that other parties are wrong because their party is right, I will point out that a the Republican Party of the 21st century more closely mirrors all the â€oeevil parties†you mentioned above.

Newt Gingrich actually ran for office by bragging that his greatest accomplishment on behalf of the nation and the party was to nearly tip the balance of power entirely in one direction. If he succeeded, the republicans could have acted unilaterally to eliminate opposition which he also expressed as a goal.

I am sooooo glad that Iâ€(TM)m not living in America anymore. I now live in a country with so many political parties that theyâ€(TM)re basically meaningless.

Are you by any chance in favor of a country where passing laws (and even constitutional changes) can be accomplished without any debate because a single party believes that the other party is evil and shouldnâ€(TM)t have a voice? If so, you seem to be a supporter of the right team.

No web interface?

[psychonaut]

I don't use a smartphone and I can't seem to find a web interface for this new IGTV. (Instagram's press release says only that it is being rolled out on Android and iOS.) So I don't see how this can possibly compete with YouTube.

If they ever do roll out a web interface, then I hope the video controls will be better than what's offered on the main Instagram site. There you can only play or stop videos; there is no way to control the volume, jump to a different time index, or even get basic information about the video such as its length and title.

Re:No web interface?

[iampiti]

We've been going backwards in terms to device and OS agnosticy since the first apps for smartphones were developed. Before that information and applications were steadily migrating to being available on web browsers and that let be user be less dependent on the underlying OS.
After smartphone apps were introduced some services went to be only available through said apps, others give advantages to app users (e.g. Just Eat in ,at least my country, gives special discounts only if you order through their app). This gives more power to Google and Apple and the app makers and makes life harder for users.

Re:No web interface?

[LinuxIsGarbage]

Well how else do you expect the app makers to examine your contact list to build your shadow friend network, and to track your location at all times?

Re:Vertical Video Syndrome - a PS

[bn-7bc]

Sadly fall into this category, for sm reason I tend to gnore the ptoofreading step, must kick thst bad habit