IGTV is Instagram’s long-form video feature that was initially intended to challenge the likes of YouTube. The shortcut button, which was located in the top right corner of Instagram’s home screen, didn’t really get much attention from users.
“Most people are finding IGTV content through previews in Feed, the IGTV channel in Explore, creators’ profiles and the standalone app,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch, “very few are clicking into the IGTV icon in the top right corner of the home screen in the Instagram app.”
This is not a huge change, but it does mean users have to make an effort to access IGTV now. Of course, the service has it’s own app, but not a lot from Instagram’s billion-plus users have bothered downloading it.
This move is another sign that the Facebook-owned company is de-prioritising IGTV as a stand alone service. Just recently, users found that they can now post IGTV videos using the same video-upload interface as they use for their main feed. Since it’s launch in June 2018, IGTV has been trying to get creators and users to use the service, but hasn’t had any results. This is mainly because the service doesn’t offer the same revenue-share opportunities from ads as YouTube, for example.
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