IGTV: How and Why
Instagram has released a dedicated application for sharing longer videos, called the IGTV.
The IGTV will bring long-form, vertical videos from all the Instagram users to a single hub. The videos on IGTV is easy to view and share from the simple and easy to use IGTV app. The features of the app can also be accessed through the dedicated IGTV Button in the official Instagram app.
What IGTV means to Instagram users ?
We all know what made Instagram a favorite application among users. Its strategy to give equal opportunity to creators of all levels, to make, share and popularize their quality content over the platform played off well to its success. Instagram has decided to give IGTV the same formula. To focus more on real people, rather than going behind nicely polished stuffs from studios and established businesses.
Instagram users will get long videos from the favorite personals and businesses they follows in Instagram and they also get to create and upload videos to share it among friends and family.
Whats IGTV mean to Creators?
The official Instagram app only allows 30 second videos and this limited many the opportunity of creators to share quality video contents to their followers.
But IGTV is sunshine and rainbows for creators as its support long video uploads and it enables creators big and small alike to get more time to communicate with their followers through the platform.
Since the whole persona of IGTV is to make a place for creators to share their unique style of vertical video contents, and since the application is still in its early period, the application pay the way for new creators to easily leverage the newness of the platform to grow and establish as much followers as it can acquire before the app itself becomes saturated like YouTube with as many creators.
Another YouTube Rival?
It is always better to keep the eggs in different baskets. Many successful YouTube personalities and creators are worried about the consequences of what happens when suddenly YouTube disappears from the Internet?
The main advantage IGTV provide to video creators is that, its newness and possibilities can be easily used to garner followers by creating engaging and shareable content. The followers from the IGTV can be directed to support their less know channels in other platforms, like a YouTube channel to diversify their online presence. Already popular YouTube creators can also shout out their presence in the IGTV to keep up with the race.This helps creators to exist in multiple platforms rather than relying only to one.
What makes IGTV special?
IGTV is backed by more than one billion customers from Instagram app itself and this advantage gives it to rise as another popular platform where the creator can easily engage with their followers and diversify their contents.
At the early stage, the IGTV ensure immense potential of visibility to creators and they can leverage the situation to their advantage to grow their followers.
Diversity of Video Contents in YouTube
IGTV has a long way to go if it wants to rival YouTube. One of the main advantage YouTube has is the diversity of video contents. As YouTube has a plethora of video contents ranging from Science fiction to personalized video from a broad range of video creators, and majority of web celebrities of IGTV focus more on creating contents on subjects like travel, cooking, fitness, beauty, art and music. It creates a limitation of video contents available in IGTV to satisfy the needs of every users. if it wants to rival YouTube, IGTV must act rightly to attract videos from all kind of creators to avoid being stereotyped.
For example: The possibility of how Jordan Peterson lectures which make thousands of viewers in YouTube as well as Atheist Republic and other not-so-mainstream yet cult videos that generate huge views and likes, finds a place in IGTV will be a fun thing to watch.
Now, Let’s take a walk through the IGTV app and its features.
Looks and Feel
To create a television kind of viewing, Instagram has borrowed the loading “grains” feature from the good old Television, thus enabling IGTV app to mimic a television kind of watching experience to its users.
Instagram has been very thoughtful in the User Interface design of the IGTV and has made sure in all the wake of the app development process to make a minimalists transparent design approach,and the simple style will resonates with the users needs and wants.
The app has some unique features like the ability to swipe up to discover new content and also the flexibility to switch between different categories of the app like — For You, Following, Popular, and Continue Watching with just a tap.
The small circle at the far right when clicked showcase basic account details, and number of followers. An upload Video option can be seen and when clicked it goes directly to the Gallery app where you can browse and select your desired video for upload. The round ring type button goes to the setting option of the app.
The users are provided basic feature to interact with videos in the IGTV — the like, comment and share button.
The share button allows sharing of videos directly as messages. The three vertical dots when clicked pop up with — Report and Copy Link option. On the far right their is a rectangular box — Browse, when clicked pop up the category box which can also be accessed by swiping up on the video playing screen.
Instagram has also provided “channels” enabling Video creators to arrange their videos and users to easily search and explore content very easily across the platform. Video Creators can easily arrange their channels, and users can follow these channels to get fresh videos.
How to create IGTV Videos and upload them?
Well, Let’s dive into check how we can create a video through IGTV.
Any one who have an Instagram account can create videos and upload it into IGTV.
Users can upload videos that are taken directly from their smartphones or upload them by clicking on the small icon and click “ Upload video” option and Gallery opens up. Users can easily select a fresh piece video content from the gallery and easily upload them to the IGTV.
For creators, Instagram has made certain guidelines to be followed for video uploads.
The guidelines are as follows:
- All videos must be in vertical format.
- The long-form video content for IGTV must lie between 15 seconds and 10 minutes for normal accounts.
- For “verified accounts” and for accounts having huge followers, the upload videos limit is up to 60 minutes long but have to be uploaded from a computer, rather than from the app.
- Aspect Ratio — Minimum — 4:5, Maximum of 9:16.
- Maximum file size for videos — for 10 minutes — 650MB (normal users) . for 60 minutes — 5.4GB.
Since video contents are only shown from people you follows, Instagram will be able to provide valuable contents from users they care to IGTV.
With all these, lets see how IGTV make traction on the coming days and how creators as well as users welcome the new offering from Instagram.
