With the massive success of TikTok's full screen short video format, it now looks like Instagram is following in its footsteps. The Meta-owned company is testing full screen mode on its home screen with videos taking most of the screen real-estate, which offers a similarly immersive experience like that of TikTok.
This is another step from Meta to make users spend more time on watching videos on Instagram. In its earnings call, Meta revealed that Reels makes up more than 20% of the time people spend on Instagram. On Facebook, all videos make up 50% of the users' time.
Users can still use the bottom navigation bar to access the discovery tab, Reels, shopping and your own profile. The options to add new post, view likes and messenger/DM options can be found on the top bar as well. What is being removed, however, is the Stories bar. It looks like the Stories bar will be accessible by swiping down a little bit to reveal it.
Instagram makes more money through advertisement between Stories as compared to Reels. There are far more options and formats available for advertisers to post content between Stories. The company, however, has planned to add more monetization options on Reels which would explain the move.
Google has also entered the short-video format race with YouTube Shorts. Last week in its earnings call, the company mentioned how YouTube Shorts generate more than 30 billion views each day and that it plans to test ads on the platform.
Full screen mode on Instagram is currently under testing and there's no word on when the feature will roll out to the general public, if it ever does.
Source: TechCrunch
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