Instagram is allowing users to publish lengthier, continuous Stories, the social network revealed to TechCrunch on Friday.
When you upload a Story that is less than 60 seconds long, it will no longer be split.
The business began testing the modification with a small group of customers late last year and has now made it available to all users worldwide.
"We are continually looking on ways to improve the Stories experience," a Meta source said in an email to TechCrunch.
"Instead of being split into 15 second clips, you'll now be able to play and create Stories continuously for up to 60 seconds."
The new feature is sure to be appreciated by both users and spectators.
Users will be able to publish uninterrupted Stories that will not be broken up, and viewers will no longer have to touch continuously to get through a long video that they may not want to see.
However, the shift may put off some who prefer the simplicity of short, bite-sized Stories.
Furthermore, the ability to publish lengthier uninterrupted Stories confuses the distinction between Stories and Reels, since you now have two options when sharing a 60-second video.
Instagram has been tightening the duration limitations on its video offerings as the social network shifts its focus to video.
The firm enabled support for lengthier Instagram Reels of up to 90 seconds in June, up from the previous maximum of 60 seconds.
Instagram also recently changed its algorithm such that new video postings that are less than 15 minutes long are automatically posted as Reels.
The modifications to CTO's video capabilities aren't entirely unexpected, given that when Instagram instagram Adam Mosseri laid out the company's goals for 2022, he stated that the business will double focus on video.
He also indicated that Instagram might concentrate all of its video products around Reels and continue to build the short-form product, implying that the distinctions between Stories and Reels may become even more blurred in the future.
All of this comes as Instagram has been pursuing TikTok and even went so far as to put out a TikTok-like full-screen feed, which users hated so much that they effectively pushed the social network to reverse the contentious move.
But it doesn't imply Instagram will stop promoting video, as the latest adjustment to Stories shows that the social network is still very much a video-focused platform.
