social media – Techno World

Instagram announces new features, expands Reels duration to 90 seconds

With an aim to help creators engage more with their audience, platform Instagram has announced that it is rolling out new features, including 90 seconds Reels

With an aim to help creators engage more with their audience, the photo-sharing platform Instagram has announced that it is rolling out new features, including 90 seconds Reels.

The Meta-owned platform said that it is now extending the length of Reels up to 90 seconds, which will help users express their most authentic selves on Reels.

“You will have more time to share more about yourself, film extra behind-the-scenes clips, dig deeper into the nuances of your content, or whatever else you want to do with that extra time,” the company said in a blogpost.

Instagram also said that users can now import their own audio directly within Instagram Reels.

“Use the import audio feature to add commentary or background noise from any video that is at least five seconds long on your camera roll,” the company said.

“Make sure that you like how your voice sounds in the recording because others might use it in their reels, too!” it added.

A new feature also lets creators poll their audience on what should happen in their next video so that they can help shape the storyline themselves.

The Meta-owned platform said that it has recently launched Templates, which allows users to easily create a reel using another one as a template. It pre-loads the audio and clip placeholders, so all users have to do is add and trim their unique clips.

“We will continue to invest in building new ways for you to connect with your audience and entertain on Reels. We can’t wait to see what you come up with and the creative ways you use these new tools!” the company said.

TikTok plans to push app into gaming

TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, also plans to roll out gaming more widely in Southeast Asia

TikTok has been conducting tests so users can play games on its video-sharing app in Vietnam, part of plans for a major push into gaming, four people familiar with the matter said.

Featuring games on its platform would boost advertising revenue as well as the number of time users spend on the app – one of the world’s most popular with more than 1 billion monthly active users.

Boasting a tech-savvy population with 70 percent of its citizens under the age of 35, Vietnam is an attractive market for social media platforms such as TikTok, Meta Platforms’s Facebook, and Alphabet’s YouTube and Google.

TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, also plans to roll out gaming more widely in Southeast Asia, the people said.

That move could come as early as the third quarter, said two of them. The sources declined to be identified as the information has yet to be publicly disclosed.

A TikTok representative said the company has tested bringing HTML5 games, a common form of minigame, to its app through tie-ups with third-party game developers and studios such as Zynga. But it declined to comment on its plans for Vietnam or its broader gaming ambitions.

“We’re always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community,” the representative said.