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Technology · Global

Instagram tests long horizontal videos as creators seek more room to tell stories

Instagram is introducing “Features,” a push into long-form horizontal video that the company says is intended to support creators telling stories in different ways. The platform is testing videos up to 90 minutes and wants short Reels to help viewers discover longer content.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 5 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 3 of 5 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 10 entries
5 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Center OnlyL 0 · C 5 · R 0

What happened

Key facts

  • Instagram is introducing a long-form video effort called “Features,” centered on horizontal video (per The Verge, 9to5google.com).
  • Instagram is testing video lengths of up to 90 minutes (per variety.com, mezha.net, Yahoo).
  • Instagram says creators can use short-form video to build an audience for longer-form content (per 9to5google.com).
  • Instagram is testing letting users watch Reels and other content on Apple TV (per variety.com, The Verge, 9to5google.com).
  • Instagram VP of product Tessa Lyons said the platform wants to accommodate creators telling stories in formats such as episodic series (per variety.com, The Verge, 9to5google.com).
  • Instagram says some creators share clips from longer videos to help viewers discover that content (per variety.com).
  • Instagram head Adam Mosseri said longer viewing can leave users with fewer Reels, photos and carousels to share with friends, potentially reducing likes and shares (per The Verge, variety.com, 9to5google.com).
  • Instagram is seeking creator opportunities for people who do not yet have the infrastructure and business support to produce longer-form content (per 9to5google.com).
  • Instagram has not announced a creator ad-revenue-sharing program comparable to YouTube’s (per 9to5google.com, The Verge).

The brief

Instagram is introducing “Features,” a long-form, horizontal video initiative that expands the formats creators can offer on the platform. The company is testing videos of up to 90 minutes, while also exploring how viewers can watch Reels and other Instagram content on Apple TV. The initiative is designed to connect short videos with longer works.

Instagram says creators can use Reels to build an audience for extended videos, and the company has observed creators sharing excerpts to help people find the full content. Instagram head Adam Mosseri and VP of product Tessa Lyons presented the effort in a video, describing longer video as a way to support creators using formats beyond short clips and photo carousels.

Lyons said Instagram wants to make room for creators telling stories in formats such as episodic series. She also described an opportunity to support creators who lack the infrastructure and business backing for longer productions. Instagram says it is testing the initiative and listening to feedback as it develops the feature.

The move brings Instagram further into a format commonly associated with YouTube. 9to5google.com characterized the effort as a potential challenge to YouTube, but also noted that Instagram has not announced a comparable ad-revenue-sharing arrangement for creators.

That distinction matters to creators weighing where to publish: Instagram is promoting discovery through Reels, while a similar system for sharing advertising revenue has not been announced. Mosseri has also identified a product trade-off.

He said longer viewing may mean users see fewer Reels, photos and carousels they would otherwise share with friends, potentially reducing likes and shares. The concern is specific to Instagram’s existing social habits: longer viewing could compete with the platform’s friend-to-friend sharing activity.

Instagram is therefore trying to join longer viewing and its short-form social features, rather than replace one with the other. The company’s stated approach relies on Reels to surface longer work and on testing different video lengths and viewing options.

Whether creators find the format useful will depend in part on the audience and business support Instagram says it wants to build, including whether it later offers a creator revenue-sharing model.

Why it matters

  • Creators are the group directly affected: Instagram’s approach links Reels discovery to videos being tested at up to 90 minutes, potentially giving creators a route to present longer work.
  • Creators without established production infrastructure or business support are an explicit audience for the initiative, according to Instagram VP of product Tessa Lyons.
  • Instagram’s existing users and creators have a platform-level trade-off: Adam Mosseri said longer viewing could mean fewer Reels, photos and carousels shared with friends, reducing likes and shares.
  • Creators considering longer videos face a business distinction: Instagram has not announced an ad-revenue-sharing program comparable to YouTube’s.

What to watch next

  • Whether Instagram expands its test of Features beyond the current effort to gather feedback.
  • Whether Instagram offers creators an ad-revenue-sharing program comparable to YouTube’s.
  • Whether Instagram proceeds with viewing Reels and other content on Apple TV.
  • Whether creators use Reels to build audiences for longer videos and share clips to drive discovery.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Center Only· 5 Center
Where the outlets are based: Europe 40% · Unknown 40% · Other 20%
Outlet political mix
Center Only
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
5 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: Europe
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (5 of 5 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

2 framing differences · 1 uncorroborated claim · 3 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 3 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 2 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • The Verge emphasizes the tension between long viewing and Instagram’s friend-sharing activity, while 9to5google.com highlights the lack of a YouTube-style creator ad-share arrangement.
  • Variety focuses on Instagram’s effort to support longer entertainment, including episodic storytelling and Apple TV viewing; 9to5google.com frames the move as a possible YouTube competitor.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Instagram VP of product Tessa Lyons said the company sees “a big opportunity” to help creators who lack the infrastructure and business support for longer-form content.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not report creator earnings or audience figures for the Features test.
  • The sources do not describe eligibility rules or a timeline for wider availability.
  • The sources do not establish how broadly Instagram is testing Features or whether the test will lead to a wider launch.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. YouTube, founded in February 2005, had established a major online-video model years before Instagram’s video efforts.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The longer-video experiment built on a platform founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in October 2010 as a photo-sharing service.
    Background · from our historical context
  3. Facebook, now Meta, acquired Instagram in April 2012.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. Facebook completed its acquisition of Instagram.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. Instagram’s successive products—from feed video, introduced in 2013, to IGTV and Reels—showed the company’s attempts to broaden the formats creators could publish while keeping video within its social network.
    Background · from our historical context
  6. Apple introduced the fourth-generation Apple TV with tvOS and an App Store.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Instagram’s closest earlier attempt at long-form video was IGTV, launched on June 20, 2018, with support for videos up to an hour long.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. Instagram had launched Reels in August 2020, initially emphasizing short videos.
    Background · from our historical context
  9. Instagram began combining IGTV and feed videos in a single video experience.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  10. Instagram discontinued the standalone IGTV app and consolidated video publishing in its main app.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

Instagram’s closest earlier attempt at long-form video was IGTV, launched on June 20, 2018, with support for videos up to an hour long. In October 2021, Instagram began combining IGTV and feed videos; in 2022, it discontinued the separate IGTV app and consolidated video publishing in the main app. Instagram had launched Reels in August 2020, initially emphasizing short videos.

The longer-video experiment built on a platform founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in October 2010 as a photo-sharing service. Facebook, now Meta, acquired Instagram in April 2012. YouTube, founded in February 2005, had established a major online-video model years before Instagram’s video efforts.

Original sources

5 articles from 5 outlets

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