Instagram is coming for creators’ long-form video

Instagram is making a bigger play for long-form creators, testing a new format that will let them upload videos of up to 90 minutes without sending their audiences to YouTube or elsewhere to watch the full thing.

Called Features, the horizontal video format is initially being tested with a small group of creators in the US and Brazil. Videos can appear in Instagram’s main feed and Explore.

Instagram is also testing the ability to link a Reel directly to a longer Feature. A creator could post a short clip through Reels, then direct viewers to the full show without them leaving Instagram. Features will not initially include advertising revenue sharing for creators.

“For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video announcing the test with VP of Product Tessa Lyons. “But we are actually going to lean in.”

Mosseri had previously argued against pursuing long-form video amid fears it would take Instagram further away from its core purpose of connecting people with friends.

The reversal comes as competition for creators intensifies across social and entertainment platforms. Instagram was among those to signal at the end of last year that creators would be central to its strategy in 2026, while Meta has since used financial and distribution incentives to attract established creators to Facebook.

YouTube has also reportedly discussed paying some of its biggest creators millions of dollars to keep their programming away from Netflix, which has been adding more creator-led shows to its service. Instagram’s latest test gives creators another place to publish the longer programming that has increasingly become part of that competition.

The test also builds on Instagram’s push onto television screens. Last year the platform launched a TV app with Reels on Amazon Fire TV. Features will now be prioritised within the app, putting longer creator videos on TV as well as Instagram’s mobile feed.