Instagram will begin showing users full-screen videos in their feeds in response to “stiff competition” with TikTok and YouTube, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said on Wednesday.
“Let’s be honest: There’s some really serious competition right now. TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger and there’s lots of other upstarts as well. And so people are looking to Instagram to be entertained. There’s stiff competition, and there’s more to do,” Mosseri said in a video. “We have to embrace that. And that means change.”
The videos that will start showing up in users’ feeds in the coming months will include recommended content from accounts users don’t already follow, with a new test feature being rolled out this week that will allow users to select topics that they want to see more or less of, Mosseri said.
In recent years, Instagram has rolled out video-focused platforms like IGTV, which allows users to upload videos up to 15 minutes, as well as its TikTok copycat, Reels. Since its 2018 launch, IGTV has struggled to find success among creators in a crowded video space, but the company introduced IGTV ads and monetization tools for creators using IGTV in May. And later this month, Instagram will be testing sharing ad revenue with publishers on IGTV, according to Axios.
The updates to Instagram’s video offerings also come as the social media platform is focusing on improving offerings for creators, as well as Instagram’s shopping and messaging features, Mosseri said in his Wednesday video.
“We’re no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app,” he said.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
