Here’s what that little TV at the top of your feed means.
If you’re anything like us, you spend half your life on Instagram. From outfit inspiration, to food and fitness — as well as keeping up with friends from around the world — it all goes down on the ‘gram.
Now, as a companion piece to its Stories feature, which caps video length at 15 seconds, the app has launched a way to share longer-form video.
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Instagram announced the arrival of IGTV last week. Here’s a quick primer on four things you should know about this new platform, but didn’t know who to ask.
What is IGTV?
Essentially a platform built within Instagram itself, it allows you to upload videos that vary in length from 15 seconds all the way up to 1 hour. Until now, most Instagram videos were restricted at 60 seconds.
Introducing IGTV, a new app for watching long-form, vertical video from your favorite Instagram creators. https://t.co/7aSMmmAsyB pic.twitter.com/Py8QI1rS23
— Instagram (@instagram) June 20, 2018
How do I get onto IGTV?
Simple. Log in to your Instagram app and watch out for the TV icon in the top right-hand corner of your screen. Once you click on it, the videos from people you follow begin to play automatically, although you can search for IGTV uploads from people outside the list of those that you follow.
IGTV also has a standalone app, but we’re guessing your home screen is already packed with apps, so we’d recommend using IGTV straight through your existing Instagram app.
Who should I be watching on IGTV?
We found some of the Middle East’s biggest celebrities as enthusiastic early adopters of this platform. Huda Kattan has already launched two videos on IGTV, one of her fooling around a Sephora store and another of her famous beauty tips, aimed squarely at her 25.7 million dedicated Instagram fanbase.
It might not be long before we see her new online reality series make its IGTV debut. You can learn more about that reality show right here. Then there are others like Shereen Mitawali who used the platform to showcase some of her promotional material with Lipton. While there are no ads as of now on the platform, individual content creators who upload their content are already using it to showcase brands they endorse.
Watch @KimKardashian share three of her top beauty tips on IGTV. Update your app now to watch our IGTV channel ASAP. https://t.co/6UEsZWMWMw pic.twitter.com/u23I47TxWB
— Instagram (@instagram) June 20, 2018
Any hitches?
Yes, one major flaw is that all videos are in portrait format. If you had grand plans of showcasing a panoramic video of your staycation venue, scratch that. But thankfully, the vertical videos will be full screen so viewing them without any unsightly borders is a boon for video consumers.
Your lunch break just got a whole lot more interesting.
Images: Huda Kattan/Instagram, Twitter, Getty