On June 20th, Instagram launched IGTV, an app that can support 1 hour video uploads, designed to bring audiences closer to the creators they love.
“It’s time for video to move forward, and evolve,” said Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom onstage at the event. “IGTV is for watching long-from videos from your favorite creators.”
But how does it work?
IGTV works as a stand-alone iOS or Android app, where anyone can be a creator by uploading vertical videos through Instagram’s app or the web. Everyone except smaller and new accounts will be able to upload hour-long videos immediately, with that option expanding to everyone eventually.
Users will also get callouts from the IGTV button alerting them to new content and one can put links in the description of your videos to drive traffic elsewhere.
“There’s no ads in IGTV today,” said Instagram CEO, “obviously a very reasonable place [for ads] to end up,” he added. He explained his interest in making the app sustainable for creators by offering them a way to monetize in the future. Instagram isn’t paying any creators directly for IGTV videos either.
Photo credits: Tech crunch
