Instagram extends Stories length to 60 seconds instead of 15

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Sep 10:42

The platform's most recent update entailing an increase of Story limits to a full minute gives users hope of positive development in Instagram's policies.

Reels also received an update on their timeframe length (AFP)

The social media platform, Instagram, confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch on Friday that stories under 60 seconds won't be posted in different fractions of 15-second clips, in an update intended for users all over the world.

A Meta spokesperson stated in the email statement, “We are always working on ways to improve the Stories experience... Now, you’ll be able to play and create Stories continuously for up to 60 seconds, instead of being automatically cut into 15 second clips.”

In a string of updates, Instagram has been upping the time limits on its video aspects such as Reels, which was increased to a 90-second timeframe in June. It also submitted a system change that automatically shares video posts shorter than 15 minutes as Reels.

Last month, Instagram has revealed that testing is taking its course for developing new settings for users to control what kind of content they see on the social media platform. In a blog post, Meta stated they are testing the ability to select multiple posts and mark them through the “not interested” button, which is supposed to flag to the app that a user doesn’t want to see similar content.

As of now, Instagram users can click on a single post to flag it, but there’s no way to do that through multiple ones.

Besides the flood of Reels, many Instagram users were angered by the amount of "recommended" content appearing on their feeds from accounts they don’t follow, an issue that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced will only increase going forward. The social media app has gone as far as resembling its Reels to look like TikTok's full-screen display of videos which some users found both an irritating change and a controversial move.

Its updates have not been going much on an upward track for its users, as Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said Monday that it fined Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc. 405 million euros ($402 million) in a long-running investigation into allegedly mishandling data about minors who operated business accounts, which exposes more of their personal data than if they operated a personal account.