Instagram to introduce video sharing, sooner rather than later

Less than a week ago, we wrote about Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom’s talk at Beijing Disrupt, where he hinted at the possibility that video sharing was the next big opportunity Instagram was probably going to dip its toes into.

Speaking to Techcrunch in Beijing, Systrom has once again hinted at the fact that video sharing is at the top of the list of Instagram’s priorities. But, while video is the next logical step for Instagram, it still hasn’t been decided whether or not they will bring its famous filters to users’ mobile videos.

“Video makes sense to do. I will say it’s a very interesting area. We really want to go after something bigger than filtered photos. Our job and our vision is to allow you to tell the story of your life, and whatever tools that may be for video, we’ll end up making them.”

The details on the when and how of Instagram video are pretty scarce, but Systrom has certainly begun to create that initial buzz around Instagram’s features and we’re guessing that the app will be venturing into new territory far sooner than expected. Any talk of Instagram coming to Android seems to have been left in the dust, in favour of video sharing.

While reluctant to reveal any timeline for the new features, he did say, “The thing I don’t want to do is introduce a new medium too late such that people see you only as a photos app.”

We can only imagine how this will change the Instagram and video-sharing landscape. There are several early adopter brands that already put Instagram’s photo sharing service to good use, and adding video into the mix is bound to give both brands, and personal users, new and exciting ways of sharing content with their followers.

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With absolutely no mention of an Android app anywhere in the near future, it’s probably safe to assume that Instagram will be focusing on perfecting the service, as Systrom had told our own Paul Sawers. He had said, “There’s no reason to be on two platforms from day one. You need to figure out whether it works first.”

It now seems that we have to wait and see whether Instagram’s video implementation works before seeing the app available on the Android platform.