This offers creators and brands significantly more space for visual storytelling, creative concepts and more in-depth content. This not only expands Instagram’s functionality, but also positions it as a platform for longer video formats 📲 . But does the new format apply to everyone – and what advantages does it bring?🚧
Still just a test:
At the beginning of 2025, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri emphasised that the platform would continue to focus on short videos – despite the introduction of three-minute reels. Instagram is now testing reels with a length of up to 20 minutes. The first creators already have access and can use the new option. The platform is thus following a trend that TikTok has also adopted: Ten-minute videos are already standard there, and clips of up to 60 minutes have even been authorised on a trial basis.
On Instagram, however, the new function is still limited to a few accounts. A well-known creator demonstrated on Threads and YouTube how he activates the 20-minute option – for him, it replaces the previous 3-minute limit. The feature is not yet available to the general public.
✅The advantages:
Although the new format is still in the test phase, it could bring various benefits in the long term – both for users and for Instagram itself. Longer reels open up more opportunities for creators to create storytelling, tutorials or entertaining formats without having to switch to other platforms such as YouTube.
The format will become more interesting for brands to share more complex content such as product presentations, behind-the-scenes or event documentaries directly on Instagram. Meta, in turn, could use the longer videos to introduce new advertising models such as mid-roll ads – similar to YouTube – and thus tap into additional sources of revenue.
Whether and when the function will be officially rolled out for everyone remains to be seen. With the three-minute reels, it took almost a year from the test version to the full version. But one thing is clear: Instagram continues to invest in the reel format and regularly brings new functions – most recently the unlockable reels – that offer creators new opportunities.
🤔 Will Instagram really become a serious YouTube alternative with its longer reels – or will the format remain anchored in the short video cosmos despite the new features? What do you think? 👇 ✍
