Instagram is eyeing long-form creators once again. The company is looking at its content development priorities as it figures out how to best engage audiences and align with evolving trends.
That’s according to Tessa Lyons, Instagram’s vice president of product, who told last week’s Scalable Summit that long-form content is a key element of the app’s planning.
As reported by ICYMI, Lyons told the audience that Instagram is looking beyond short-form content, inspired by TikTok, and moving towards a more YouTube-like approach to help drive creator engagement and opportunity.
As per Lyons: “I don’t think short-form vertical content is going to be enough to succeed on TV. What we’re thinking about is, how do we best serve the creators who do short-form content, but also do long-form content?”
Lyons said that two years from now, Instagram “will be a unique part of creators’ long-form strategy in addition to their short-form strategy.” That could include more support for podcasts, live-streams, and even longer stories told through mini-dramas, which have become a popular element of TikTok.
Conceptually, that’s not a huge surprise. Instagram launched an updated CTV app last December, which looks very much like YouTube’s CTV UI.
And while short-form content is seemingly the focus of that platform for now, it makes sense for Instagram to look into longer form material as well, as a means to both drive more CTV engagement and to provide expanded opportunity for creators to build their presence in the app.
YouTube is currently the most-watched streaming video service in the U.S., beating out Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and every other platform by a significant margin. That has given YouTube a valuable income stream amid rising interest in CTV ads, which now provide traditional TV-like reach and resonance, with the advantage of digital platform costs and targeting.
As such, it makes sense for IG to also be assessing this element and looking to facilitate the same opportunity. That said, Instagram’s history with long-form content isn’t great.
In 2018, Instagram launched a separate IGTV app, which the company hoped would become a competitor to YouTube, and drive expanded opportunities for the business.
But it never caught on, and in 2022, Instagram shut it down. It explained at the time that the move was part of a broader effort to simplify and streamline the Instagram experience.
Essentially, Instagram’s management felt that the separate app didn’t catch on because all of the engagement was happening in the main app. As a result, that was where creators preferred to post. Instagram was also seeing big gains from short-form video at the time, so it retired IGTV, which also meant that it had to shut down its midroll ads offering.
Evidently, the view inside IG in 2026 is that attention is shifting to longer-form storytelling again. Maybe, with the evolution of artificial intelligence tools, Instagram also sees a future where longer, AI-powered storytelling will reign and drive more engagement in the app.
Whatever the reason, clearly Instagram’s engagement trend data is pointing in this direction. Which could lead to new content opportunities, and new ad potential within longer Instagram video clips.
