Instagram announced the ability to upload longer videos to its social-media platform Tuesday.
The company revised its 15-second cap, allowing all users to upload 60-second videos in the near future, according to a press release.
“Longer video on Instagram begins rolling out today and will be available for everyone in the coming months,” Tuesday’s release said.
The time people spent watching videos on Instagram increased by more than 40 percent in the last six months, according to the release, leading the Web service to make its maximum video length four times longer.
Brant Wickersham, a 20-year-old UF family, youth and community sciences junior, said he might take 30-second videos, and that businesses will probably find the change more useful.
“By allowing larger content, marketers aren’t restricted to 15 seconds and can better tell a story,” he said.
Jake Plonskier, a 20-year-old UF accounting junior, said Instagram’s users will start to see more commercial advertising rather than personal entertainment.
“Now with this update, companies will be able to air longer ads at a cheaper cost and have the same amount of viewers,” he said.
Rachel Shapiro, a 20-year-old UF marketing junior, said the change won’t have a large impact on the average user.
“Celebrities and comedians will probably make a lot larger use of the new video feature,” she said.
Instagram videos can already take a long time to load, Shapiro said, and people often scroll past them.
Taylor Light, a UF nutritional sciences freshman, said her attention span is too short to enjoy the update.
“I love Instagram, and it’s my favorite social media platform, but I feel like the new update will just make me want to skip through every video I see,” the 19-year-old said.
