Along with the announcement about the new IGTV service, Instagram also reported that it has officially surpassed the 1 billion monthly active users mark. The two novelties were presented to the public this Wednesday, 20, at an event. The social network managed to reach this mark after a year of having registered 800 million users in September last year.
The event was hosted by Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom. According to him, the app was designed with the intention of facilitating the location and viewing of videos on the cell phone without the user having to search to find them. Just like television, IGTV videos will simply start playing as soon as you open them.
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, 2018Once you log in to IGTV, vertical videos will appear on your screen from people you follow and personalized recommendations from elsewhere on Instagram. The service also wants content creators to upload their videos directly to Instagram, turning Instagram into a direct rival to YouTube, only for mobile devices.
The cool thing is that videos can be up to 10 minutes long, and larger accounts will be able to post hour-long videos. According to Systrom, after a while the company intends to allow everyone to be able to post videos of unlimited duration.
The company's overall objective when it placed 24-hour Stories with a direct message feature was to make Instagram a main communication channel. It is in this same scenario that IGTV begins a new path, in which people are connected to their interests more broadly. The CEO stated that Instagram will increasingly try to link relationships and personal interests: "You can't get that anywhere else - this unique blend of the two," Systrom said.
Analyzing the changes in the photo social network, it is clear that this new feature is also another blow to Snapchat, which has reached very similar agreements to try to make its discovery guide more attractive to younger viewers.
The app will be available on Android and iOS soon, and should arrive within the Instagram app sooner, the company said. About the feat of reaching 1 billion users, Kevin Systrom says, "It's amazing, and it's something Mike and I never thought would happen." It is not yet known how the app managed to reach this high number so quickly, given that it would need to add 200 million users a year. Perhaps if the changes and news persist, more and more people will want to join.
Fonte: The Verge | Instagram Press
