Long-format video on Snapchat inspired Instagram Discover tab coming soon

Reports suggest a Snapchat style Instagram Discover tab might be in the pipeline.

After rumours of a YouTube competitor from Instagram were reported by Social Samosa yesterday, a fresh wave of new information suggests Instagram is greasing the wheels with social media celebrities and content creators. The company is chatting them up about a separate, dedicated Instagram Discover tab that offers a perfect blend of long-format content like on YouTube but presented in a way similar to Snapchat’s Discover tab.

Also Read: Instagram reportedly introducing an hour long video feature

In a way that is similar to Facebook’s unsuccessful push for professionally created video-content on Watch. Instagram too intends to allow short scripted shows and blogger-style videos that have the potential to work on the platform slightly better than they did on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/facebook/videos/10156285678786729/

The Discover section on Snapchat featured content from partners such as Mashable, Daily Mail, Cosmopolitan and others who were paid upfront. But after a tumultuous past couple of years that saw Snapchat suffer an ebb in their user growth and roll out a universally hated app redesign, led to Snapchat rethinking the upfront payments instead letting the Discover partners earn off advertising instead.

The new Instagram Discover section which is yet unnamed, will feature long-format content similar to YouTube, attempting to destabilize the formidable bond that YouTube shares with the creator community and serve it on a platter inspired by Snapchat’s Discover section, in a best of both worlds way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=yvIJLmhqmjk

Snapchat's Discover section. 

Talk of monetization may be on the backburner for now, but Instagram could let creators earn money through pre-roll or mid-break ads through an ad revenue split like YouTube, and/or could allow the content creators to drive traffic to their or advertisers’ websites and blogs through a ‘Swipe Up To See More’ option.

“The long-form video section will spotlight a collection of popular videos, and provide a “continue watching” option since users might view long clips over the course of several sessions.” TechCrunch opines.

Instagram has offered no comment which suggests a strong possibility of the reports being true.

What are your thoughts about a new Instagram Discover section for long-format video content? Is it a good idea or should Instagram not try to fix what isn’t broken? Let us know in the comments section, or write to us at team@socialsamosa.com