Instagram Adds IGTV Series Option to Categorize Videos

Do people care about IGTV yet? The jury's still out, but Instagram is gradually working to improve the option, and boost exposure for IGTV content. And this week, Instagram has added a new IGTV 'Series' option which will enable creators to segment their videos into dedicated collections.
As you can see in the clip above, the new Series option will help creators better brand their content, and encourage return viewing, by giving their series a dedicated label, along with an on-screen tab which viewers can tap to get notifications of new episodes.

The option is no doubt influenced by Snapchat's 'Snap Originals' content, which has seen increased success of late. Snap's Original shows - shorter, TV-like episodic content, more aligned to Snap's audience habits - have been gaining momentum through repeat viewership, with more than 100 of Snapchat's Discover channels now reaching, on average, tens of millions of viewers each month.

And you know how Facebook/Instagram hates seeing Snapchat succeed.

As you can see from this overview (shared by social media expert Matt Navarra), creating an IGTV series is reasonably straight-forward, and the additional categorization options could help guide users to specific content, enabling creators to diversify their channels. YouTube enables similar categorization through its Playlists, though IGTV's option is more aligned with repeat viewership of specific programs.

As noted, IGTV still hasn't really taken off, and it's not clear that it ever will, but with the added promotional power of Instagram, which can pump more IGTV content into Expore or home feeds, there's still a way to go in dictated the platform's fate. And if Snapchat continues to win out through its original programs, you can bet that Instagram will keep pushing ahead with IGTV. Must defeat Snap at all costs.