SAN FRANCISCO, May 3 ― Instagram is pulling out all the stops with Reels, putting its new short-form video format in the spotlight once more. This time, Instagram has decided to increase the duration of Reels videos to 90 seconds, as the social network continues to compete with TikTok.

Until now, users could record Reels videos of up to 60 seconds. This has now been increased to a maximum of 90 seconds, or 1 minute and 30 seconds. First announced as a trial, this new option is already available in several countries. The social network specialist, Matt Navarra, unveiled this new feature on Twitter.

Instagram's new short-format video feature has become one of the most popular offerings on the platform. During the recent Meta Q1 2022 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg revealed ― among other things ― that Instagram users now spend around 20 per cent of their time on Reels. And this is all time spent on the Meta-owned platform, to the detriment of other social networks. Indeed, the battle to win over internet users and keep them online continues to rage between the various social networking giants.

Video continues to be a major focus for Meta, which is pursuing the development of its tool ― particularly as the firm vies to compete with TikTok, which has boosted the popularity of short-form video content. However, Instagram remains behind its Chinese rival. The platform has recently deployed new features such as the ability to respond to a comment in video form or to search for content via a keyword, not to mention a “Remix” option mimicking TikTok “Duets.” All such features have long been available on TikTok. The Chinese social network also increased the duration of its videos to 10 minutes in February 2022. ― ETX Studio