On its own, Facebook was one social media – which studies found – made the average person feel bad about themselves. That is because it’s filled with fakeness; people come online to post pictures and videos filled with filters and air-brushed to make them ‘picture perfect.’ Instagram perfected that by becoming a platform exclusively for pictures and videos taken from one good moment, which are then passed off like it’s a regular thing.
Well, if those studies were right, you (the average Instagram user) are about to get even more sick with Instagram. The Facebook subsidiary is said to be planning on launching YouTube-style video content that will see it ditch the one-minute limit for videos in favor of a one-hour long video.
This news is according to a publication by the Wall Street Journal, which further goes to expound that the social network is currently in talks with creators and producers of the ‘long-form’ videos explicitly designed for Instagram. In part, the journal writes:
“The Facebook Inc.-owned photo and video sharing app is preparing to launch a new feature that will include long-form video, according to people familiar with the matter. The feature, which could allow videos of up to an hour in length, will focus on vertical video, or video that is taller than it is wide, one of the people said. Until, now, Instagram hasn’t allowed users to post any videos longer than one minute.
The people said the plans are tentative and subject to change.
In recent weeks, Instagram has had conversations with content creators and publishers about producing long-form video for the platform, a person familiar with the matter said. The feature, if it launches, will do so within the Instagram app, another person said.”
One might argue – and rightfully so – that Instagram is taking a break from ‘copy-pasting’ things off Snapchat and has now moved on to YouTube. The moves also make economic sense for the company’s bottom line. YouTube has consistently topped the chat in ranking when it comes to online platforms for information and entertainment – infotainment – for teens.
There are also studies, which have revealed that teens are moving away from Facebook in masses. Should Instagram roll out the one-hour long video, it will be Facebook’s mitigating the loss of user to rival’s platform. The fact that it has to ‘copy-paste’ the very features on its rival platforms to do so notwithstanding.
For a while now, Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has believed the social network (with all its subsidiaries) need to venture out into the video contents. Zuckerberg believes video content is now the “mega trend.”
It is true, video content gets higher engagement than the traditional text and picture posts. However, Facebook’s thirst is primarily to get the advertisers’ dollars, not primarily to satisfy the consumers’ wants.
