IGTV: A Life in Portrait?

Instagram recently took the wrapper of its brand spanking new feature - IGTV. It’s the functionality you never knew you wanted…a TV network (kinda).

Instagram is betting that the ever-growing consumption of video online will keep growing. While the social media platform was founded on photos-sharing it has, through stories, become an all you can eat buffet for short snappy videos *we’re looking at you Boomerang*.

So what is IGTV?

To be short (depending on how you look at it) its just Instagram except with really, really long videos. In fact, videos on IGTV can reach 60 minutes in length. The idea is that it provides a platform to deliver more of the types of content people are consuming. For the most part, that content is celebrity and influencer videos. But the main strategy is to give Facebook a long-form video competitor to Youtube.

Cool. But how is that any different to Youtube?

The main point of differentiation is that video on IGTV is geared towards a portrait viewing mode. You heard me right. What was once the cardinal sin in video recording is now hip and happening *damn millennials killing landscape video*.

Via Giphy

This is actually a great feature as video playback which specifically caters to native device orientation is likely to be more engaging and easier than having to rotate your screen.

Sounds good. How do I watch videos?

You've probably already noticed the new IGTV button in the top right of your Instagram app. IGTV (Instagram TV) is also free to download as a standalone app. There has been a big push toward celebrity and influencer culture, however, you to can upload your long-form videos for the world to see.

However, if you’re just looking to gaze in on others…watching is easy.  Just grab the app and if you already follow people on Instagram you’ll see their videos and they will see yours, you’re good to go.