Do you add captions to your Instagram videos? Probably not, because until recently you had to create them manually. Now that Instagram has rolled out auto-generated captions, you can easily make your videos more accessible to a larger audience, including people with hearing disabilities or users who simply want the choice to enjoy your video post without sound. At this point, auto-generated captions are available in 17 languages, but more languages will be supported in the near future.
IGTV is On Its Way Out
With TikTok having rolled out auto-generated captions almost a year ago to this date, the Instagram update was long overdue. But now, a simple switch of the “Show Captions” option in the advanced settings of the app will activate the feature. The feature is AI-based. Your captions may contain errors, but this will vastly improve as the software learns.
Auto-generated captions are just one of the many changes in the photo sharing platform’s video strategy. Instagram is gearing up for competition with TikTok. One of the major changes is that they will no longer support their standalone app IGTV. Instead, Instagram will now keep all things video natively in the main app.
Focus On Reels
With IGTV put to retirement, Instagram will fully focus its video investments and feature developments on its short video format Reels, as the largest engagement driver on the app.
In-stream video ads, also known as IGTV ads, will also disappear from the platform. Instagram will replace the in-stream video ads with a new experience that will enable creators to monetize ads on their Reels. During this transition, creators who are depending on in-stream video ads for their revenue will receive a temporary payment based on recent earnings.
Additional Features for Instagram Videos
The good folks at Instagram are working at making video easy to create and discover. So, keep your eyes peeled for some excellent features to come. Video playback will be improved with a full-screen viewer. Instagram also launched Remix, similar to TikTok’s Duets, enabling users to remix any video content, beyond Reels content. And just like TikTok’s Video Replies, Instagram users can now reply to comments on posts using the newly rolled-out Reels Visual Replies.
Instagram shared in a recent blog post that “Video is a huge part of why people enjoy Instagram, and we love how our creator community uses it to express themselves, collaborate with others, and connect with their followers,” promising its user base that they will invest more in the Reels format.
With all this good stuff going on on Instagram, many of you will want to step up their video creations on the platform. But if you own a YouTube channel with lots of original content, there’s a way to repurpose that content and share it on Instagram. If you want to learn more, I highly recommend you to read this article: “how to post YouTube videos on Instagram.”
