CEO Adam Mosseri says Instagram is open to long-form video
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has hinted that the Meta-owned platform may consider introducing longer-form content in the future. His comments come as Instagram is testing a TV app in the US with plans for a global rollout soon.
Instagram recently started testing a TV app, aimed at people who want to consume content together on the big screen. Although Instagram lacks long-form content when compared to platforms like YouTube, the new TV app focuses primarily on Reels. Now, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has hinted that the Meta-owned platform is open to potentially focusing on long-form content in the future.
Instagram may bring long-form content
Mosseri emphasized that longer content doesn’t work on Instagram and that part of the appeal is the constant variety. But he said this may change in the future if the platform considers introducing premium content. “It may be that perhaps we will need premium content to make it work,” Adam Mosseri told Semaphore. He said. “It could be that we need long-form video. And then if we do need long-form video, what does that mean for us? Because that’s literally a market that we’ve obviously decided not to enter.”
Currently, Instagram does not have the premium membership system that platforms like YouTube have. The app depends on advertising revenue from users.
Instagram previously tried to bring long-form content with IGTV, which launched in 2018. However, the platform shut it down in 2022. By this time, Reels had already become a core product for the app.
Instagram ready to adapt with new TV app
The Instagram TV app is currently available for Amazon Fire TV devices in the US as part of its testing phase. Adam Mosseri acknowledged that it is uncertain how users will interact with the app. “Maybe people will start watching Reels passively, he said, or try to collaborate with other people in the room to share content on the TV screen.”
Despite this uncertainty, Mosseri expressed a willingness to experiment and adapt. “We’re going to learn a lot,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll get a lot of things wrong, but we’ll get back to it quickly.”
Looking ahead, Instagram plans to let users more actively shape the content in their feeds. The platform recently introduced a feature that allows users to change what they see on their Reels feed using AI.
