Skip to main content

Retro sunsets and lattes, now in motion: Instagram rolls out video functionality

kevin stage IG“Today, we’re going to focus on Instagram.” And how!

Mark Zuckerberg launched today’s Facebook event by making it clear people were dead on in assuming the announcement would focus on the social networks 2012 acquisition. He quickly handed off the mike to Kevin Systrom, one of Instagram’s co-founders.

Systrom gave a run down of how far Instagram has come since 2010. “16 billion photos have been shared … that’s a lot of photos of coffee.” Systrom noted that the service sees 1 billion likes a day, and has 130 million active users each month. All the stats and numbers just reiterate the fact that the little photo-sharing app that could is a bonafide social media behemoth. Screen Shot 2013-06-20 at 12.12.43 PM

Systrom also revisited Instagram’s origins – saying that when he and co-founder Mike Krieger were working on Burbn (the original app from which Instagram was born) video was an intended feature. However they initially left video behind to create Instagram because the complexities would have slowed it down and made it less beautiful – but now, thanks to smartphone advancements and the wealth of development Instagram has behind it (Zuckerberg said the team has tripled), video is being added into the fold.

The update is immediately available. A quick run-down of how to use the video function: just like taking photos, you hold down the center button – the only difference is, for video you just hold it down for longer as you record. Systrom then showed how it will appear in the feed. People can create 15-second videos, and there are 13 filters specific to the video function. You are also able to select and delete individual parts of the clip if you wish and can also choose a frame. 

“It plays once, it doesn’t loop,” he noted, perhaps making a point to differentiate Instagram video from Vine. The videos will appear right in the standard Instagram feed but with a camera icon in the upper right hand corner. 

“And day one, Android as well. That means all of our users can use video on Instagram.” Systrom also pointed out that it will be immediately available on the Web.

video instagramThen Systrom discussed how easy it is to take bad videos, with shaky hands and grainy subjects. Since Instagram wants to help its users create professional-grade video snippets, they came up with Cinema, a new technology that offers image stabilization. Cinema was perhaps the only “surprise” of the event, but if the feature is as accomplished and impressive as it was in the demo, color us happy about its introduction. 

While there’s sure to be the expected negative feedback to changing an app with such a loyal community, Systrom stresses that Instagram is only beefing up its app, and that it will remain true to its ideals of beauty, simplicity, and speed. “This is the same Instagram we all know and love,” says Systrom. “But now it moves.”

Editors' Recommendations

Kate Knibbs
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kate Knibbs is a writer from Chicago. She is very happy that her borderline-unhealthy Internet habits are rewarded with a…
You can now use the Add Yours sticker on Reels for Facebook and Instagram
A series of three mobile screenshots on a gray background showing the new Add Yours sticker for Facebook Reels.

As of today, Facebook and IG creators have six new features they can use for their Reels content. But of the six, the most intriguing feature is support for a sticker prompt that was first used and popularized in Instagram Stories.

Meta announced via a Facebook video post that, in addition to all of its other new Reels-focused features, it would now offer support for its Add Yours sticker prompt in Reels for both Instagram and Facebook.

Read more
Instagram is undoing its TikTok-like changes you hated so much
New features for Instagram Reels

Popular social media service Instagram is reconsidering its pivot to a TikTok-style video feed after recent changes proved to be highly unpopular with its fan base.

Over the past several weeks, Instagram has been testing a version of the app that opened into a feed of full-screen photos and videos, seemingly attempting to morph the service into something that more closely resembles TikTok. Similarly, the new feed also disproportionately pushes seemingly random "recommended" posts, squeezing out content from those folks that Instagram users have actually chosen to follow.

Read more
Why Instagram’s pivot to video is making everyone so mad
Instagram app on the Google Play Store on an Android smartphone.

With its strong pivot to video, it should be obvious by now what direction Instagram (and its parent company Meta) is taking with its platform. But is it the right direction?

The immediate backlash to Instagram head Adam Mosseri's recent explainer video seems to indicate that users of these apps don't approve of the recent changes to their beloved photo and video sharing app. It's clear that they don't want IG to turn into a TikTok clone.

Read more