Could Instagram Be the New Netflix?

Say hello to one hour-long videos

If Instagram didn’t already rule your life, its latest feature might get you even more hooked. The Facebook-owned company just announced the launch of its first standalone application, IGTV.

The new app comes after the company’s announcement of reaching 1 billion monthly active users, and it’s set to only further the company’s growth.

Set to compete with video-sharing giants, IGTV will allow users to upload content up to one hour long – a huge increase from Instagram’s one-minute limit. Users will be able to swipe through a variety of long-form videos, browse popular content, and create ‘Instagram Channels’ where they post their own content for users to subscribe to—a similar formula to already-existing video-sharing platforms.

But the company set the app apart from its competitors by designing IGTV to support vertically-shot videos—which is how most of us shoot videos on our phones anyway.

And while it might seem like a small step, the app’s push for long-form vertical videos could in-fact be revolutionary. Supporting the new-age video format could win over everyday users and social media’s widely popular content creators; both of whom have strayed away from the landscape-format typically used in television and film.

And as far as advertising goes, Kevin Systrom, Instagram co-founder and CEO, says that there won’t be any, for now—adding that the app is, “obviously a very reasonable place [for ads] to end up.”

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