Whether TikTok gets banned in the U.S. or not, Instagram is certainly making a flurry of moves that seemingly align with trying to present itself as the best alternative for users.
Today, Instagram has officially announced that users can now create 3-minute Reels in the app, allowing some additional time for your short-form masterpieces.
As explained by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri:
“Starting today, you can upload Reels to Instagram up to three minutes long. Now, historically, it’s only been 90 seconds, and that’s because we’ve wanted to focus Instagram on short-form video, not on long-form video. But we’ve heard a lot of feedback from a lot of you creators out there that 90 seconds is just too short, so we’re hoping that upping that limit up to three minutes will help you tell the stories that you really want to tell.”
But hang on, didn’t Instagram just tell us, like, a few months ago that videos longer than 90 seconds is a negative for content peformance?
Yes, yes it did:
In fact, Instagram has repeatedly instructed creators that posting longer Reels is a bad idea, including this tip that it shared earlier this month:
So, I guess, you can post longer Reels if you want, but you probably shouldn’t, based on Instagram’s repeated advice?
In any event, Instagram has been experimenting with longer Reels for some time, with 10-minute Reels even tested with some users.
So it’s not a new concept, while it could also better align Reels with TikTok, which enables users to post longer videos in-stream. YouTube also officially extended the length of Shorts to three minutes earlier this month, after announcing it last year, and in this sense, Instagram’s really just looking to move in line with the competition, and enable more creative opportunity for its users.
But whether you should do it, I don’t know.
It all comes down to the content itself, and your audience, and maybe there is more opportunity in longer clips than Instagram has previously seen.
But the current advice from IG is that you shouldn’t post Reels longer than 90 seconds.
But now, you can. If you want.
