On June 20, Instagram launched its competitor to YouTube at a flashy event in San Francisco. This confirmed the media’s suspicions that Instagram was working on a video feature for a June 20 launch. Dubbed IGTV (Instagram TV), the app will allow users to upload vertical-oriented video (a concept that Snapchat pioneered) of up to 1 hour in length. Instagram assures its users, however, that the IGTV feature will also be available in a dedicated tab in its flagship application.
The app, unlike YouTube, will start playing video as soon as the user opens the app. According to Instagram, “you don’t have to search to start watching content from people you already follow on Instagram,” meaning that the company’s algorithms will serve up customized content from creators that users already follow on Instagram.
On a creator’s Instagram profile page, there will soon be a dedicated button to access their IGTV channel, which will (like YouTube), display a curated list of their videos. It is currently unknown if playlists will be supported at a future date.
IGTV sounds like a fascinating mix between YouTube and Snapchat Discover. Although there is no monetization plan in place as of now, many creators are eager to have an alternative to the often out of touch YouTube. And, as Snapchat dies, it seems as though millennials have selected Instagram as their platform of choice. Therefore, IGTV has real potential to be a serious competitor to YouTube.
Below is a video of the IGTV app in action, courtesy of TechCrunch:
