Instagram, the app you open for a quick scroll while the coffee brews, now wants you to stay for a feature-length sit-down. Instagram 90-minute videos are in testing, in a format called “Features,” which the company announced on Monday, Oct. 26. It is a very big swing for an app built on videos you finish before your coffee cools.
Here’s the short version. Features are horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Instagram is limiting the test to select U.S. creators, with podcasters and comedians at the front of the line. It is a test, not a general launch.
What Instagram 90-minute videos actually look like
Instagram head Adam Mosseri and product VP Tessa Lyons announced the format in a video, The Next Web reports. Features will show up in main feeds and on Explore. Instagram’s TV app will prioritize them too.
Testing had already started with creators in Brazil. Instagram says some creators there are still taking part. For comparison, the company capped Reels at about three minutes at the time of the announcement. So this is roughly a 30-fold jump.
There is also a tool called “Clips as Reels.” It lets creators link up to eight Reels to one longer video. In other words, the short clip becomes the trailer and the long video becomes the show. Instagram is also testing a “Series” option for grouping Reels, which THR says targets TV.
Why Instagram long-form video is a real change of heart
Mosseri has not exactly been a fan of this idea. “For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram,” he said, per AV Club. Lyons called the moment “a full circle.”
That’s a polite way to put it. Instagram tried long video before with IGTV in 2018. It never gained much traction, and the company shut it down in 2022, Engadget notes. Round two comes with a TV app that launched last December, so the living-room screen is now part of the plan.
Mosseri says Features will “take some time to get right,” but that Instagram is “very committed to it long term.” Instagram also says Reels remain a core product, and that it meant Features to complement them. All of this lands while the company faces a high-stakes Meta trial that could cost it dearly.
Here’s the thing: who gets paid?
This is the part creators will care about most, and it’s the one with the least detail. Instagram is not launching a YouTube-style ad revenue-sharing program. Variety reports that an Instagram representative said the company is funding longer-form content “directly with some creators right now.” The same representative said it’s too early to share a long-term monetization model.
Engadget reports that, for now, only a few creators with individual deals with Meta can make long-form content. Outlets describe the rollout a little differently, but they agree on the main point: this is a small group.
Why would Instagram want this? TechCrunch points out that short-form content is harder to monetize than long-form because there is less room for ads. Many creators also treat Instagram and TikTok as promotional arms for their YouTube channels. A 90-minute video on Instagram is a pitch to keep those fans, and those ad dollars, in house.
What to watch next for Instagram Features
Instagram has not said when Features will reach all creators. It has announced no wider rollout date and no monetization model either. Until those two answers show up, this is a test for a hand-picked group. Streaming fans have seen similar waits before, as with a Netflix thriller renewed nearly a year late.
So will you sit through 90 minutes of a podcast on the app you open to look at your cousin’s vacation photos? Instagram is betting yes. After one IGTV shutdown, the rest of us get to find out whether round two sticks.
