It's official: the internet is eating itself. Instagram has just announced it's testing 90-minute video content, and my poor, brainrotted head cannot take it. Now, whether it's short-form, attention-stealing slop or long-form video rambling, it doesn't seem to matter to IG, as long as there's content.
Not to be a grandma, but I remember when the Instagram logo was a skeuomorphic vintage camera, so I feel I've earned the right to whinge. The app has evolved a lot since its debut, but the move to long-form video means yet another social media app is gunning for our precious attention, and I'm really feeling the fatigue.
On Monday, Instagram began testing the 90-minute clips with a handful of US-based creators. The 'Features' project has already been tested in Brazil and is aimed predominantly at podcasters and comedians. Whether other long-form creators will migrate from the safety of rival platforms like YouTube remains to be seen, but I already find the concept of extended video content on IG rather tiresome.
I'm a woman of structure. I like that TikTok is for brainrot and YouTube is for slightly more nuanced, long-form brainrot. But it's no secret that podcast content is ruling the social feed – it's cheap to produce, and so long as you can wrangle some semi-interesting yappers to host, you've got a steady flow of hour-long content each week.
I've already seen video content infiltrate my other precious apps like Spotify. Do I watch podcast videos on the platform? Absolutely not, but the fact that it's even there suggests I may be in the minority. Social media brands are competing to become the next 'every app', and with little distinction between them, it all feels a little like a desperate plea for my watch time.
I see a not-so-distant future where an evening can be swallowed by circling the drain of social media. 15 minutes on TikTok as an appetiser, catching up with your favourite zillenial podcasters on IG for main, and a nice YouTube video essay for dessert. Simply put, it's becoming too tempting to switch off.
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