Instagram's TV App Brings Scrolling to the Living Room

Instagram has launched a stand-alone service for streaming devices, aiming to compete with YouTube and Netflix by bringing short-form video to the television. The app, which uses the same recommendation system as the mobile version, recently expanded with features for co-viewing, allowing friends and family to watch together. Tessa Lyons-Laing, Instagram's vice president of product, has referred to TV as the company's 'next frontier.' The service gives preference to horizontal videos for better display. A writer for The Atlantic tested the app with her husband, finding both amusement and awkwardness in sharing feeds. Jonathan Gray, a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, expressed skepticism about the social appeal, noting that most of one's feed may not interest others. Marika Lüders, a professor at the University of Oslo, suggested the move is a strategy to elevate the status of short-form videos by placing them on a screen associated with less anxiety. The article also explores the 'good screen versus bad screen' meme, which shifted during the pandemic from desktop to smartphone as 'bad' and TV as 'good.' The author reflects on the potential for the novelty to wear off, noting that after a brief trial with relatives, they returned to their private phone.