Abbie Christelow

Instagram Considers Offering up to 10-Minute Reels

September 25, 2023

Videos are a popular content format for audiences, and various platforms offer this to users. Social media platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok enable people to upload videos of different lengths, and businesses can use this to adapt their content marketing for social media and reach a wider audience.

Changing the video lengths on these platforms is not unheard of. In 2020, YouTube introduced YouTube Shorts creation tools; these smaller videos can be up to 60 seconds long. Now, it has been confirmed that Instagram is experimenting with up to 10-minute Reels for its platform.

Instagram initially introduced Reels back in 2020 and, at the time, enabled users to create visual content up to 15 seconds long. Since then, that length has extended to 90 seconds, and Instagram announced in July 2022 that new posts under 15 minutes long would be shared as Reels.

Other updates include adding music to photo carousels, which Instagram stated a few weeks ago.

Mobile developer and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi declared Instagram’s newest testing via an X (formerly known as a Tweet) before the platform officially announced anything. Paluzzi is known for releasing details about social media updates before they are officially confirmed.

Since Paluzzi’s post, Instagram has confirmed to TechCrunch that they are internally experimenting with longer Reels, though there is no external testing yet.

This testing does not guarantee a future update allowing people to access this feature. However, if 10-minute Reels become available, Instagram users could create and upload longer content for their followers, similar to other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

For some social media content creators, this could be a beneficial feature. With the current time limit, some content is split over multiple videos, making it harder for followers to find and watch all the relevant clips. Longer Reels would lessen this issue, enabling the creator to cover the topic in one video.

Equally, 10-minute Reels would allow creators to explore subjects more in-depth, a potentially advantageous addition for businesses. It could widen the potential for Instagram content, allowing companies to create videos with more detailed topics for their target audience. These complex subjects enable organisations to demonstrate their expertise in their industry and build audience trust through that authority.

However, at the moment, the actual impacts on content creators are pure speculation and will remain so until Instagram determines whether the 10-minute Reels will feature in an update.

Similarly, we don’t know how the new Instagram reel length may or may not compete with other social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

Instagram currently has over 2 billion monthly users, which is predicted to increase. Whether Instagram chooses to incorporate 10-minute Reels into its social media platform is yet to be determined. Still, with so many people accessing this platform, longer Reels could offer many possibilities for businesses and individuals.

If you want help with social media marketing, Fly High Media can support your business. We offer a client-focused approach with bespoke solutions and aim to provide the best results for our clients.