Instagram now testing videos up to 90 minutes long in major shift

( KTLA ) — Instagram is moving beyond its signature short-form videos, testing a new feature that allows creators to share content lasting up to 90 minutes, including podcasts, interviews and comedy shows.

The Meta-owned platform announced Monday that it is testing a feature called “Features,” which allows select creators to upload longer, horizontal videos that viewers can watch directly within the app.

“For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video posted Monday alongside Tessa Lyons, the company’s vice president of product. “But we are actually gonna lean in for a bunch of different reasons.”

Lyons, who previously led product development for Instagram Reels, described the expansion as a new chapter for the platform.

“It feels like a full-circle moment that we’re here now talking about the beginning of our journey on long-form video,” she said.

Rather than leaving Instagram to watch a full podcast or interview elsewhere, users will be able to tap a short clip and continue watching the longer version directly within the app.

“You’re basically scrolling through. You’ll see that vertical video, and then it says, ‘Hey, do you want to tap to watch the full video?'” Nexstar’s Rich DeMuro explained Tuesday morning.

Viewers who tap the prompt are taken to the longer, horizontal version of the video.

“You can even send these videos to your TV to watch on a bigger screen,” DeMuro said.

Instagram is also developing tools to help creators connect their short-form clips with full-length videos.

In a separate interview with creators Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry, Mosseri explained how podcasters currently use Instagram to promote longer content hosted elsewhere.

“You slice it up, you use platforms like Instagram as the top of funnel to raise awareness and then you kind of go to, you know, a podcast player or YouTube or wherever to watch the full-length thing,” Mosseri said.

Under the new approach, viewers will be able to watch the entire video without leaving Instagram.

Creators can link up to eight short clips to a single longer video, according to Variety , giving audiences multiple ways to discover full episodes.

The feature was previously tested in Brazil and is now expanding to select creators in the United States, according to The Hollywood Reporter .

The company is also expanding Instagram for TV, allowing users to watch videos on larger screens through Apple TV, Samsung, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV.

The expansion comes as YouTube has become a major destination for video podcasts and other long-form entertainment.

Instagram is also testing “Series,” a feature designed to organize episodes of recurring shows, and expanding the ways users can discover livestreams.

“Our goal is really to be the best place for social entertainment,” Lyons told Bloomberg in an interview published by the Los Angeles Times .

“To do that well, we need to broaden the way that we enable people to tell stories through video and enable audiences to discover them,” she added.

Will Instagram pay creators like YouTube?

One major question remains: Will Instagram compensate creators for their videos the way YouTube does?

YouTube, which is owned by Google, offers eligible creators a share of advertising revenue, but Instagram has not announced a comparable program for its new long-form videos.

An Instagram spokesperson told Variety that the company is providing funding directly to some creators but has not finalized a long-term payment model.

Mosseri has also acknowledged that previous attempts to introduce broader creator payments were costly and did not produce the results the company had hoped for, according to Business Insider .

For now, Features remains in testing, and Instagram has not announced when the 90-minute video option will become available to all creators.