As you may see on this instance, posted by Jonah Manzano (and shared by Matt Navarra), some customers at the moment are seeing the choice to create Reels of as much as a minute and a half lengthy, providing you with an additional 30 seconds on high of the present 60-second restrict.

Instagram first started testing longer Reels in February, with numerous customers seeing the choice seem within the app ever since. We requested Instagram if this replace is being rolled out to all customers, and so they advised us that, at current, that is solely in testing, with no official plan for a broader growth simply but.

Instagram’s presently within the technique of re-aligning its video choices across the Reels format, with Instagram chief Adam Mosseri noting again in December that:

“We’re going to double-down on our concentrate on video and consolidate all of our video codecs round Reels”

Instagram retired its IGTV model again in October, when it introduced the broader merger of its video providings, and with this, it is sensible for the platform to additionally make Reels longer, in an effort to higher combine its numerous video choices right into a singular content material stream.

The subsequent step, then, can be to scale back the size of all video uploads (customers are nonetheless capable of add video clips as much as an hour lengthy by the put up composer), which is able to deliver all the things into larger alignment, in an effort to facilitate the subsequent stage of Instagram’s content material shift.

Which is able to possible be this:

Price noting, too, that Instagram eliminated its in-stream video advert placements possibility earlier this month, which additionally aligns with this broader push in the direction of making video content material extra compact, and translating all of its content material right into a full-screen, immersive, TikTok-like feed, transferring into line with rising ordinary behaviors.

Instagram hasn’t shared any information about this subsequent stage, however that looks like the logical conclusion, which can be a giant change for the app, although one which makes a variety of sense.

Longer Reels is one other step on this, and whereas it’s not being made accessible to everybody simply but, it’s step by step being expanded to extra customers over time.