Approx one month ago (if that), Instagram launched IGTV – their answer to creating their own YouTube style channel. Unlike stories, these videos will permanently live at the top of your feeds and the videos can be up to 1 hour long. Sounds cool on the face of it, but the real question is, how much more content consumption do we really need?
I remember when I first told my friend about it and her response was: “Oh great, as if we need another reason to stare aimlessly at our phones.” Take one look around you whether at home with family or walking the streets or on the way too and from work and everyone has their heads down scrolling. Heck, even couples in restaurants do it. The original premise behind social media was to make everyone feel connected and therefore, social. However conversations have either silenced or are a half baked string of words while your brain tries to focus on texting someone else versus having a conversation with the person actually in front of you.
As a content provider, I started Where Did U Get That in 2009 when all there was, was your blog. It was the happy escape/personal diary of fashion to talk back and forth with readers, but the birth of social platforms has been a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it’s the opportunity to share your brand in different forms and at the same time develop deeper connections with followers which I personally love and wouldn’t have any other way, but on the flip side, the content provided is slowly but surely being stretched out like an elastic band that has no end with each new social platform created. With YouTube already dominating the video space and Instagram already having stories (mini videos) plus highlights (where you store those mini videos indefintely) plus videos within your feed (instead of posting photos) how much content becomes too much for you the viewer?
Think about who you follow right now. On top of all the platforms that already exist (wait, I forgot Snapchat and Twitter and Facebook). Do you welcome the addition of IGTV too? or do you think it’s becoming redundant to see multiple ways of following that one person?
In short, will the elastic band eventually snap or do you want it to just keep going?
