Instagram Adds TV Feature After Reaching 1 Billion Users

Facebook’s photo-sharing app Instagram has reached 1 billion monthly active users, according to Bloomberg. To spur future growth, the company announced a new feature: Instagram television.

Anyone will be able to upload videos for Instagram’s new IGTV section, which will display them full-screen and vertically, the way people naturally hold their phones. The video section will feature content from people users already follow on their account, Instagram said. IGTV is also a separate standalone mobile application on iOS and Android, where videos will start playing automatically when the app opens.

Unlike on Instagram, the videos in IGTV won’t be limited to just one minute, they can be up to an hour long. People will also be able to comment on the videos and send them to friends. Instagram says it’s not immediately paying for any content on the app, nor will it start with any advertising. But eventually, it plans to make sure people making popular videos have a way to make money from their efforts, the company said.

While Facebook is mostly used for people to connect with friends and family, Instagram is a place users have been more comfortable following people they don’t know, helping build an entire ecosystem of influencers who make money from their Instagram fame. “Younger audiences are spending more time with amateur content creators and less time with professionals,“ Instagram said in a blog post.