<P> IGTV is a vertical video application launched by Instagram in June 2018 . Basic functionality is also available within the Instagram app and website . IGTV allows uploads of up to 10 minutes in length with a file size of up to 650 MB, with verified and popular users allowed to upload videos of up to 60 minutes in length with a file size of up to 5.4 GB . The app automatically begins playing videos as soon as it is launched, which CEO Kevin Systrom contrasted to video hosts where one must first locate a video . </P> <P> In December 2013, Instagram announced Instagram Direct, a feature that lets users interact through private messaging . Users who follow each other can send private messages with photos and videos, in contrast to the public - only requirement that was previously in place . When users receive a private message from someone they don't follow, the message is marked as pending and the user must accept to see it . Users can send a photo to a maximum of 15 people . The feature received a major update in September 2015, adding conversation threading and making it possible for users to share locations, hashtag pages, and profiles through private messages directly from the news feed . Additionally, users can now reply to private messages with text, emoji or by clicking on a heart icon . A camera inside Direct lets users take a photo and send it to the recipient without leaving the conversation . A new update in November 2016 let users make their private messages "disappear" after being viewed by the recipient, with the sender receiving a notification if the recipient takes a screenshot . In April 2017, Instagram redesigned Direct to combine all private messages, both permanent and ephemeral, into the same message threads . In May, Instagram made it possible to send website links in messages, and also added support for sending photos in their original portrait or landscape orientation without cropping . </P> <P> In August 2016, Instagram launched Instagram Stories, a feature that allows users to take photos, add effects and layers, and add them to their Instagram story . Images uploaded to a user's story expire after 24 hours . The media noted the feature's similarities to Snapchat . In November, Instagram added live video functionality to Instagram Stories, allowing users to broadcast themselves live, with the video disappearing immediately after ending . In January 2017, Instagram launched skippable ads, where five - second photo and 15 - second video ads appear in - between different stories . In April 2017, Instagram Stories incorporated augmented reality stickers, a "clone" of Snapchat's functionality . In May 2017, Instagram expanded the augmented reality sticker feature to support face filters, letting users add specific visual features onto their faces . Later in May, TechCrunch reported about tests of a Location Stories feature in Instagram Stories, where public Stories content at a certain location are compiled and displayed on a business, landmark or place's Instagram page . A few days later, Instagram announced "Story Search", in which users can search for geographic locations or hashtags and the app displays relevant public Stories content featuring the search term . In June 2017, Instagram revised its live - video functionality to allow users to add their live broadcast to their story for availability in the next 24 hours, or discard the broadcast immediately . In July, Instagram started allowing users to respond to Stories content by sending photos and videos, complete with Instagram effects such as filters, stickers, and hashtags . Stories were made available for viewing on Instagram's mobile and desktop websites in late August 2017 . </P> <P> In response to criticism that it copied functionality from Snapchat, CEO Kevin Systrom told Recode that "Day One: Instagram was a combination of Hipstamatic, Twitter (and) some stuff from Facebook like the' Like' button . You can trace the roots of every feature anyone has in their app, somewhere in the history of technology". Although Systrom acknowledged the criticism as "fair", Recode wrote that "he likened the two social apps' common features to the auto industry: Multiple car companies can coexist, with enough differences among them that they serve different consumer audiences". Systrom further stated that "When we adopted (Stories), we decided that one of the really annoying things about the format is that it just kept going and you couldn't pause it to look at something, you couldn't rewind . We did all that, we implemented that ." He also told the publication that Snapchat "didn't have filters, originally . They adopted filters because Instagram had filters and a lot of others were trying to adopt filters as well ." </P>

What is instagram and what does it do