Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announces further expansion into video as he states that his company’s app is about more than just photo sharing.
In a video published to social media, Mosseri says Instagram is currently building out new experiences in four key areas.
The company’s first priority is creators and helping them earn a living with new monetization features. Mosseri recognizes there’s been a shift in power from institutions to individuals across industries, and he wants to move Instagram in that direction.
Second in priority is video, which is seeing an immense amount of growth online on all major platforms right now. Mosseri says Instagram needs to lean into video more, and later explains how he plans to do that.
A third area Instagram plans to expand on is shopping. The pandemic accelerated the shift of commerce from offline to online, moving the industry ahead by a number of years. Instagram is trying to capitalize on that trend.
The fourth area Instagram plans to build out is messaging, which Mosseri says has become the primary way people connect with their close friends on the app. Over the past five years communication has shifted away from feed posts and stories and moved toward DMs.
Mosseri shares more information about how Instagram plans to expand its video offerings and get new content in front of more users.
Big Plans For Video on Instagram
“We’re no longer a photo sharing app,” Mosseri says before launching into his company’s plans for video.
Instagram’s research finds the number one reason people use the app is to be entertained. That’s what people are looking for every time they open it.
To keep its users entertained Instagram will lean more into video. Mosseri acknowledges there’s serious competition from TikTok and YouTube, which means there’s lots of work ahead for Instagram to get on the same level.
The company is embracing this challenge by working on a number of changes that will roll out in the near future. One of those changes is a new way of distributing content and introducing users to a wider variety of creators.
Over the next couple of months, Instagram will experiment more in the space of recommendations. That involves showing users content in their feed from accounts they may not be following yet.
An early version of this test started rolling out last week. This week there’s a new test where users can say which topics they want to see more of or less of.
Instagram will also be experiment with how video is used as a content format. Mosseri briefly touches on what to expect:
“We’re also going to be experimenting with how do we embrace video more broadly — full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video. And so you’ll see us do a number of things, or experiment with a number of things in this space over the coming months.”
Lastly, the company expects to be more transparent in its communication of upcoming changes, noting these plans represent an ongoing effort and not an overnight shift.
“Now we have an idea of where we want to end up in a half a year or a year’s time, but I’m sure things are going to change many times between now and then. This isn’t something that we can just do overnight. So you’ll see us iterate and try and be very public about what we’re doing and why with videos like this one.”
See the full video with Mosseri below:
Changes are coming to video on Instagram 📺
At Instagram we’re always trying to build new features that help you get the most out of your experience. Right now we’re focused on four key areas: Creators, Video, Shopping and Messaging. pic.twitter.com/ezFp4hfDpf
— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) June 30, 2021
