Instagram never stops to amaze its users, Instagram has just added a bunch of new tools in order to help IGTV creators manage how their content appears when it is within the Discover tab, and when it is listed in the main feed.

IGTV Options in 2020

Talking about IGTV options, they were first rolled out in April – Instagram rolled out a set of new updates for IGTV-, the options included allowing the creators to share the first 15 seconds of their IGTV video in Instagram Stories – the rest of the IGTV is available via “Swipe-up” link-, in addition to improving the display options within the Discover tab.

Moreover, as for now, the new IGTV options enable creators to edit the preview image and thumbnail which are displayed for their IGTV clips.

The screenshot provided below -posted by Sumeet Rajpal, and shared by Matt Navarra-, shows that there are now more options available to allow you to control how your IGTV video previews are displayed, with “profile cover” relating to the thumbnail which is shown in Discover feeds.

However, the changes are relatively small, but with Instagram releasing IGTV monetization, they could play a significant role in enabling IGTV creators to maximize their content engagement besides building up their presence within the app.

Talking about IGTV monetization, indeed, it is a great and important step, also while Instagram’s dedicated, longer-form video platform has not taken off as yet, if more creators can generate a high and significant income from their IGTV efforts, that means it will give them more reason to focus on posting, consistently, to the app.

Therefore, Instagram needs controls like these -IGTV options- in order to help the creators maximize their efforts. The above screenshot shows that Instagram now also makes it possible for IGTV creators to cross-post to Facebook Watch, this increases potential exposure to their uploads.

However, it remains to be seen if it is IGTV or even Facebook Watch will ever provide real competition for YouTube, anyhow, engaging top creators, and subsequently their fans, this is the main key. So that is just another small step in that direction.