Instagram appears to be working on competing with YouTube and Snapchat by hosting a dedicated space where it’ll allow users to stream videos of Resolution as much as 4K that span an hour long.
Reports suggest that the Facebook-owned company is in contacts with several social media channels and publishers to know in detail as to what is in demand when it comes to creating and publishing content. Instagram will use this knowledge to develop a free space in its platform where users will be able to watch music videos, scripted shows or even live content be it in vertical or fullscreen mode.
As a tentative announcement date is set to happen on June 20, Instagram will be looking to attract partners to introduce its new video format. It’s safe to say that you can expect to see your favourite youtube performers on Instagram with videos lasting up to an hour long. However, one must not look forward to watching Netflix or Amazon Prime kind of quality in here but a short video of up to 15 minutes for the initial duration. This will still be a blessing compared to the maximum of 60-second limit which the Instagram posts are stuck with.
Techcrunch says that Instagram will eventually allow publishers on their platform earn money but it’s unclear as to how they’ll be able to roll out ad breaks like Youtube does on its website. It’s possible that the photo-sharing service will show a preview of a video after which users might need to swipe up like it currently does to open the promoter’s own link. This will, in turn, reduce its own traffic and hosting space and will allow interested users to go watch the rest of video on the partner’s own website.
For longer videos, Instagram is speculated to showcase a collection of top and trendy videos with an option for users to click on “Continue Watching” in case some users want to watch a particular video over various sessions. The long videos will be tagged alongside a creator’s Story bubble and would only be available for uploads for pre-shot content.
If made a reality, considering it’s Instagram it’ll be able to rival Youtube if not tackle the Google-owned video sharing platform. Instagram recently revealed its secret sauce behind its curated feed which has earned immense praises from the user community. Earlier last month, it was also reported that the company is working on in-app payments from within the app for shopping or booking reservations at restaurants.