Instagram Features long form video test: 90 minutes, horizontal, linked to Reels

Instagram is testing long videos called Features, and select creators in the US can now post videos of up to 90 minutes (Social Media Today). If you record talking-head videos or podcasts, one recording can now give you short Reels and a full episode, with the Reels sending viewers to the episode without leaving the app.

What Instagram announced on 26 October

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, and Tessa Lyons, its VP of Product, introduced Features in a six-minute video. Mosseri said Features will sit alongside Reels, Series, Live and TV (9to5Google). 9to5Google describes the format as long-form and horizontal, and says the test runs in the US only for now (9to5Google).

This is not the first test. Instagram had already tried Features with creators in Brazil, and it plans to expand the US test “in the coming months” (Social Media Today).

It is also a change of mind. “For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram,” Mosseri said. Lyons, who pushed for the change, said “Reels is still going to be a core part of Instagram” (TechCrunch).

Clips as Reels: short cuts that point to the full video

The part that matters most for talking-head creators is a separate option called Clips as Reels. It turns long-form videos into Reels, and those Reels link viewers to the longer video (TechCrunch). You can link up to eight Reels to one longer post. The option was tested in Brazil earlier this year and is reaching select US creators this week (Social Media Today).

Instagram itself names podcast-style shows, vlogs and interviews as uses for Features (Social Media Today). That is the yap and podcast crowd. Until now, those creators posted a clip on Instagram and asked people to go somewhere else for the rest. With Features, the clip and the episode live in the same place.

Viewers can also save a long video and send it to the Instagram app on their TV (TechCrunch). We covered that app in our piece on Instagram on Apple TV and longer videos on the big screen.

What is still open

Money is the obvious gap. Existing ad deals between Instagram and creators carry over, but Instagram has not announced a revenue share like YouTube’s (9to5Google). A Meta spokesperson said “It’s too early to share a long-term monetization model” (TechCrunch). If you are not in the test, there is nothing to switch on yet.

One recording, two edits

Even before Features reaches you, the workflow is worth setting up, because it is the same work you would do for YouTube. You record once and make two edits.

The full episode is a long edit: tidy the start, take out false starts and the longest dead air, and leave the conversation alone. Our guide on how to edit a video podcast, from raw tracks to clips walks through it. For a 90-minute horizontal file, a desktop editor or a recording platform is usually the right tool; we compared two of them in Descript vs Riverside.

The Reels are short, tight edits. Find the moment that stands on its own, cut the run-up, and keep the pauses that land the point. Our guide on how to make podcast clips covers the choice of moment and the cut. Note that Features are horizontal while Reels are usually vertical, so frame your recording with both crops in mind.

For the clips, slicecut is one option on a phone: you strike words in the transcript, and one tap pulls every pause to a target length. It is built for clips, not for the full episode, since a source video can be up to 15 minutes and a finished project up to 20 minutes (pricing).

The short version

• Features are long, horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes, in a test with select US creators.
• Clips as Reels links up to eight Reels to one full video, so your short cuts can send viewers to the episode.
• No revenue share has been announced yet.
• Plan your edits now: one long edit for the episode, several short ones for the Reels, framed so both crops work.