Instagram expands Reels to 3 minutes, updates profile grids

This update comes just a few months after YouTube updated its Shorts policy to support videos up to three minutes long and just hours before the anticipated TikTok ban in the United States of America.

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Instagram expands Reels to 3 minutes, updates profile grids

On Saturday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared a platform update via a Reel confirming that users can now upload videos up to three minutes long on the platform, similar to YouTube Shorts. Previously, Instagram allowed users to upload videos of up to 90 seconds.

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This update comes just a few months after YouTube updated its Shorts policy to support videos up to three minutes long and just hours before the anticipated TikTok ban in the United States of America.

This is still not a match for TikTok, which allows users to upload up to 60-minute videos.

This isn’t the only update coming to Instagram. The platform will soon replace its iconic square profile grids with rectangular ones. According to Mosseri, this change was made because most content uploaded to the platform is in a vertical orientation, and square grids tend to crop such content excessively.

Lastly, Instagram will start showing your liked Reels to your friends. This update will highlight the likes and reactions on Reels, which means users might need to be more mindful of what they like or comment on, especially if they prefer to keep their activity private.

With these changes and the shutdown of TikTok in the US, Instagram is expected to gain a significant number of users in the coming weeks. These updates are likely to attract new content creators and consumers to the platform.

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