Instagram has begun testing a new video format called Features, which allows creators to upload horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long, SmartCompany reported. The feature was announced on 26 October and lets creators link up to eight short clips to a single long-form video to help audiences discover the longer content.
Features videos will appear in Instagram's main feed and explore page. Testing began in Brazil prior to the United States rollout, with earlier trials also conducted in India and Mexico. Instagram is planning to expand access to Features to more countries before the end of 2026, though no Australian release date for the feature has been confirmed.
The format is intended for content such as podcasts, vlogs, interviews and episodic series. Instagram VP of product Tessa Lyons said the platform is about connecting people through creativity and that creativity extends beyond short-form video, with the update intended to give creators more freedom to experiment with content formats. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said he had long been opposed to long-form video on the platform, partly out of concern about maintaining Instagram's role in connecting friends rather than being purely an entertainment platform, but has now come around to the view that Instagram should embrace it.
A significant difference from YouTube is that Instagram has no equivalent to YouTube's advertising revenue-sharing arrangement in place for Features. Under YouTube's arrangement, eligible creators receive a portion of advertising revenue, with some taking up to 55% of ad money their videos generate. An Instagram representative indicated the platform is currently funding longer-form content with select creators directly, adding that details of any long-term monetisation approach are not yet ready to share.
Atiyya Batty, social media strategist at LSKD, expressed enthusiasm for the feature, singling out horizontal playback as something her team had been requesting for a considerable time. She told SmartCompany that keeping viewers within Instagram removes a barrier to consuming long-form content, as users will not need to leave the platform. Batty said brands that post both long and short videos would likely see a better return on investment on content they are already creating, and that LSKD intends to move quickly by placing its next YouTube video in full on Instagram.
Batty said that, based on her observation of previous features, Instagram's algorithm tends to favour early adopters, and so brands should move quickly.
Australian businesses and creators cannot yet access Features, as no local release date has been confirmed. If and when it becomes available in Australia, brands with established Instagram audiences could publish long-form video content directly to those audiences without directing them to a separate platform.
Reporting: SmartCompany, Yahoo News, The Nightly
Written by Pick & Scroll News from the reporting and documents linked above.
