Instagram wants to become more than a place where podcasters promote their shows with short clips. The social media platform is moving into long-form video, with plans to support full-length podcasts and other programming while connecting its popular Reels feature to a new television viewing experience.
Instagram executives outline the strategy in a video released on the platform, revealing that the company is beginning to roll out new features designed to bring short-form and long-form video together. The initiative could give podcasters another major platform for distributing complete video episodes rather than simply using Instagram to attract audiences elsewhere.
“Great examples are podcasts or comedy specials where you’ve got both the long video, which you might want to sit back and enjoy, and the short videos, which are really stackable and maybe easy to just consume on the go,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri says.
The strategy builds on something many podcast creators already do: Post short clips from longer episodes to generate interest and attract new viewers. But Instagram wants to take that process further by making it possible for audiences to discover a podcast through Reels and then watch the entire episode without leaving the platform.
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