Instagram, the American photo and video sharing social networking service has announced that the reel video length has doubled to 60 seconds.
Before the feature update, Instagram only allowed users to choose between 15-seconds and 30-seconds reels. Recently, TikTok has raised its time limit to 3 minutes, allowing creators to make significantly longer and more varied content without sacrificing the platform’s fast-flipping nature.
Additionally, Instagram is also introducing new measures for users below 16 or 18 in some countries, by defaulting them to private accounts and making it more difficult for potentially suspicious accounts to locate young people on the platform. Current teenage users will also receive push messages urging them to make their accounts private.
A private account lets only people who follow the user see posts, Stories, and Reels. Random users can’t even comment on their content and posted content cannot be seen in sections like Explore and hashtags.
Young people who already have a public Instagram account will receive notifications emphasizing the benefits of a private account and explaining how to modify their privacy settings.
Instagram users also recently gained the option to control how much sensitive content they see through a new Sensitive Content Control. Earlier this month, Instagram also launched a Security Checkup to help users protect their account if it is ever hacked.
As TikTok followed bans from many countries, especially from India, where it had the maximum users, Instagram shifted away from a photo-sharing platform to short video producing content like Reels which gained popularity within no time. It also debuted its desktop version last month, to make it more user-friendly as more content creators turned to influencers and full-time users.
Earlier this month, Instagram has announced that it could soon show users recommended posts based on their preferences and add fullscreen video playback for a more immersive experience.
