Instagram Tests 90-Minute Videos as It Takes Another Run at YouTube

Instagram began testing a new horizontal video format called Features on October 28, 2026, supporting videos up to 90 minutes long. The test is limited to a small group of creators, starting in Brazil and now expanding to a small group in the United States, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The format targets podcasters, vloggers, and interviewers who currently treat YouTube as their home base.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced the change in a six-and-a-half-minute conversation with the platform's VP of Product, Tessa Lyons. Mosseri opened with a near-confession: "For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram, as Tessa here knows very well. But we are actually going to lean in for a bunch of different reasons."

He acknowledged the strategic tension behind the shift. "Historically, one of my concerns has been how do we make sure that we keep Instagram not just about entertainment, but about connecting with friends?" Mosseri said. "So the thing that the team has been working on that we're excited to share with you is trying to make it so that short form and long form video can be symbiotic."

Why is Instagram doing this now?

Lyons, who worked with Mosseri on launching Reels, framed the move around existing creator behavior. "We also see that so many creators are producing longer videos and they're using clips of those videos to drive discovery on reels and help build their audience," she said.

In practice, much of what appears as a Reel functions as a trailer for a longer video hosted elsewhere, usually on YouTube. Instagram wants that destination to be Instagram itself. Achieving that would require the platform to stop pushing only short-form content in its recommendations.

Alongside Features, Mosseri and Lyons announced Series, a multi-episode format rolling out to some creators in the United States, India, and Mexico.

What is still unresolved?

Compensation remains the open question. Commenters on the announcement asked why a creator would post an unpaid, long video on Instagram rather than publish it on YouTube and monetize it. The source notes that Mosseri appears not to have an answer yet. For working photographers and video producers weighing where to host tutorials or behind-the-scenes content, the absence of a monetization structure is the deciding factor, and nothing announced so far addresses it.

The 90-minute ceiling is also not a final specification. Instagram is testing several length limits, with 90 minutes as the top figure.

How does this differ from IGTV?

Features is Instagram's second attempt at long-form video, after IGTV failed the first time. The new format corrects several structural mistakes. It plays horizontally. It lives inside the main app rather than a separate one, and it connects directly to Reels. The rollout is also slower, suggesting the company learned from launching IGTV with a large splash and watching it fizzle.

The move fits a well-documented pattern of Instagram adopting formats built elsewhere. Stories arrived in 2016 as a near copy of Snapchat, an admission then-CEO Kevin Systrom made openly. Reels launched in 2020 as TikTok dominated short-form video and faced a possible US ban. Threads appeared in 2023 as Meta's answer to Twitter, now X. The Edits app arrived in 2025 as an alternative to CapCut, and the more recent Instants feature mirrors Snapchat again.

That strategy has succeeded before — Stories and Reels both performed better than expected on Instagram. Whether long-form video belongs on a platform built around quick scrolling, and whether creators will be paid for the effort, will determine if Features breaks the pattern or repeats IGTV's fate.