What happened, in short
On October 26, Adam Mosseri, Instagram's head, said on a podcast the opposite of what he'd repeated in 2024: long video, up to 90 minutes, is now the bet. Why? Television. People watch YouTube on the living-room screen, and Instagram wants that couch time.
Do I have to start filming one-hour videos?
No. And it's worth being clear for two reasons. First: Instagram isn't paying for these videos yet. Second: it's a test, with few creators. For a small business, filming long just because is a wasted afternoon.
The move that does help you
There's one idea worth stealing: a long video isn't one video, it's twenty. Film what you already do once — a class, a how-to, a client story — and from that recording you get the long video plus a handful of clips that point to it. What you sell isn't the views of each piece, it's the combined reach.
Three things for this week
One: don't change your content plan over a headline; keep doing your Reels. Two: when you film something good, keep the full version in case this test reaches Spain, so you already have material. Three: remember Mosseri's tip for reaching non-followers: what matters most is how many people forward your post per view. Make things people want to DM to a friend.