Last week there was buzz about Facebook making an announcement to introduce a new product, and while the social site did get an addition - you can now post a photo within a comment - the big news was actually centered around Instagram. While a small group was invited to come listen live, it was not until today that the rest of the world was let in on the secret. Accompanied by a little red notification badge on the App Store, the company launched Video on Instagram. What is it? As stated within the app update, Video on Instagram is a "new way to share your stories." Users will now see a movie camera icon next to the original camera icon when taking a picture within the app. Once the icon is tapped, the camera shifts to video mode, allowing users to record videos between 3-15 seconds long. They even added 13 new filters specifically for video. Don’t think the initial frame of your video is insta-worthy? Not to worry. Users will have the option to select which frame will show as the cover frame when your video is not playing. One difference from photos, which can be taken with your phone camera and imported, is that only videos taken within the Instagram app can be posted.
Reactions
The internet was almost instantly flooded with feedback as people received the news this morning.As to be expected, the comments were all over the board - some were excited to use the new feature, with a few early birds posting their first video, while others were skeptical and less enthusiastic about the feature. Besides user worries, one of the main topics of discussion is how it compares to and if it will affect Twitter’s Vine. Vine, at only 6 seconds long, forces users to be creative in making their videos. An added benefit to Vine is it's Twitter integration. In order to view Instagram photos, and now videos, users must leaving the platform via external link. Even with these differences, there is still a threat to Vine. Instagram's video length is flexible, and more so, it kicks off with a much larger user base -Vine now has 13 million users, but Instagram overtakes that with 130 million.
Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how Video on Instagram is put to use and what kind of the feedback it receives as users update to the new feature. Check out the ad for Video on Instagram below and let us know what you think! Introducing Video on Instagram from Instagram on Vimeo.
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