Instagram’s much awaited ‘IGTV’ is here
Good news for Instagram users, IGTV is now accessible. The users can now upload videos up to 1 hour in length. Till now the limit was set at only one minute. You can see a button on the homescreen to access it. It will highlight videos of any person popular or not.
“It’s time for video to move forward, and evolve” said Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom on stage at the event. “IGTV is for watching long-from videos from your favorite creators.”
What all can be done on IGTV
It is some what similar to YouTube. It will let anyone be a creator. People will be able to upload videos through Instagram’s app or the web. In the IGTV hub, viewers will be able to swipe through a variety of longer-form videos. A user can browse tabs of personally recommend videos, popular videos, creators they’re following. Also they have an option to continue watching previously started videos. Users will also get notified from the button for any new content.
You can also subscribe to Instagram Channels developed by IGTV creators.
IGTV is directly a YouTube Competitor
Similarity in the concept is not the only factor to worry for YouTube. Popularity is a major concern. Instagram currently has over 1 billion active users. IGTV could be popular with creators trying to earn money by attracting advertisers. eMarketer already expects Instagram to earn $5.48 billion in US ad revenue in 2018.
One advantage of Instagram is that the creators might already have many Followers. So, they can easily gain views for their IGTV channels and grow their audience.
Instagram has the burden to be the cash maker
The Instagram brand is currently Facebook’s only booming app. Facebook’s popularity among teenage and youngsters has been in decline. Also it has faced criticism constantly for its privacy scandals. Many users even today are unknown that Facebook owns Instagram, and still love the photo sharing app.
With IGTV rolling it seems Instagram might become Facebooks most Money making App.