If you’ve been wishing for longer videos of cute cats, dogs, and kids saying the darndest things on Instagram, the social media gods have heard your prayers. Instagram users will now be able to post videos that are up to one minute long, adding 45 seconds to the previous video length limits.
Before this update, users could only post videos up to 15 seconds in length, which is awfully short when there’s an adorable cockatoo screeching funny things, or a dog and a raccoon engaging in some solid interspecies snuggling.
“In the last six months, the time people spent watching video increased by more than 40 percent,” the company said in its announcement, adding that “longer videos mean more diverse stories” from popular accounts.
The company says the update started rolling out on Tuesday, and will be available “for everyone in the coming months.”
Instagram is also bringing back the ability to make videos out of multiple clips from your camera roll — if you’re an iOS user.
This move to longer videos is interesting, in that it takes Instagram a step closer to YouTube, and a step away from apps like Snapchat, which limits users to videos that last a matter of seconds. Perhaps Instagram is just trying to carve out its own little spot in the crowded world of mobile video.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist