Instagram’s IGTV Gives up on Vertical Videos

Almost a year ago, Instagram launched its video platform IGTV. For the most part, the heavy focus on the vertical video format was the highlight feature of IGTV — Instagram said it was a natural way of enjoying content on phones when it first launched.

But it is now changing some of its plans after IGTV failed to catch a lot of traction. Not a lot of content makers are actually making content for IGTV as those who post on YouTube have to separately create/edit for IGTV. So most of the content on IGTV are terrible cropped videos that look incredibly awkward and the whole experience isn’t that enjoyable.

And so, IGTV is giving up on vertical videos. 

It now supports landscape videos, so users will now be able to upload both vertical and landscape videos on the platform for a much better viewing experience. “Ultimately, our vision is to make IGTV a destination for great content no matter how it’s shot so creators can express themselves how they want. We realize this is an evolution from where IGTV started, but we believe it’s the right change for viewers and creators,” Instagram said on a blog post.

The company is even comparing IGTV giving up on vertical videos with Instagram moving away from just letting users posting square photos back in 2015. “In many ways, opening IGTV to more than just vertical videos is similar to when we opened Instagram to more than just square photos in 2015. It enabled creativity to flourish and engagement to rise – and we believe the same will happen again with IGTV,” the company said.

It will be interesting to see if more content makers adopt IGTV now that making content for the platform is much easier, but I have a feeling most IGTV creators will now stop making original content for the platform and simply post things they already post on YouTube.