It was anticipated—by almost everyone—that Instagram’s new video feature would become popular within seconds. Well, everyone was right. Five million videos were uploaded to Instagram within the first 24 hours of the video features existence, according to CNET.com citing a company representative.
The feature was released on Thursday and made available to iOS and Android devices. With the new update Instagram users were able to record up to 15 seconds of footage and share it instantly. The feature came with effects-filters and the footage is stabilized while the video is uploading.
Up until now Instagram, which has 130 million users and is owned by Facebook, and Twitter-owned Vice were not in competition. Now, the two have been put head-to-head.
The video feature was extremely popular right from its inception. So many videos were uploaded in the first hour that it would require more than 365 days to watch them. The update hit its climax Thursday night, after the buzzer sounded in Game 7 of the NBA Finals signaling the Miami Heat’s defeat of the San Antonio Spurs. During that time the videos were being uploaded to Instagram at a rate of 40 hours of footage per minute.
The video feature’s wide acceptance and usage proves Instagram has made it possible to bring video sharing to a wide range of people—something other app developers have tried their hand at and failed.
While many users are enjoying the app, not everyone thinks it’s great. Technology blogger John Gruber said the video update hurts Instagram. According to Gruber videos don’t load fast enough and the update strives away from the apps focus.
"Thankfully there's a setting to turn off 'Auto-Play Videos'; otherwise I'd abandon ship," he explained.
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