Back in June last year, Instagram launched IGTV – a standalone app for long-form videos to compete with YouTube. But, it seems not enough users are watching IGTV videos which is why Instagram will now show previews of IGTV videos in your main feed.
Previews of IGTV’s vertical videos will now show up in your main feed on Instagram. These will be one-minute previews, and, there will be a ‘Watch Full Video’ button at the bottom of these previews that will take you to the full video in IGTV.
With IGTV video previews, Instagram says that it’s “making it even easier to discover and watch the latest video content from your favorite follows”. However, taking a quick look at the replies to Instagram’s announcement on Twitter suggests otherwise.
Instagram users are clearly not happy with Instagram showing video previews of IGTV in their main feed. In fact, many of them are even saying that they don’t really use IGTV and are asking Instagram to replace the interest-based feed with reverse chronological feed in the main app.
For those unaware, IGTV allows users to upload videos that are up to an hour long, unlike Instagram that only lets you upload videos that are one minute long. However, do note that IGTV only supports vertical videos, because that’s “how you actually use your phone”.
Are you happy with Instagram showing IGTV video previews in the main feed? Sound-off in the comments section down below.