Your friends' and family's photos will compete with ads, featured hashtags -- and now promos from the company's mobile video platform.
Instagram will add video clips promoting its IGTV platform to users' feeds. The company announced the move on Twitter this morning, and it has already garnered voluminous and mixed feedback from the app's user base of 300 million.
Now, you can preview IGTV videos in your feed. When there's a new video from someone you follow, you can tap from your feed to watch the full video in IGTV. (👋 @HannahStocking) pic.twitter.com/tkYSchB7E8
— Instagram (@instagram) February 7, 2019
In June, the Facebook-owned company unveiled IGTV, a standalone mobile app and video platform that's integrated directly into Instagram. Videos on IGTV can run for 10 minutes or longer -- which goes far beyond the 60-second maximum for regular Instagram videos.
Since its debut, IGTV has received criticism on a number of fronts. In September, Business Insider reported that the platform had routinely recommended inappropriate videos to young users. Facebook, Instagram's parent company, has had similar issues with its Facebook Live service, which has enabled users to broadcast controversial videos that have included killings, suicides and rapes.
In September, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom and Chief Technical Officer Mike Krieger left the company.