Source: Adweek
Instagram is taking another step in what is turning into a full-blown Snapchat blitz.
The Facebook-owned video- and photo-sharing platform announced it’s rolling out an Events video channel on its Explore page that uses an algorithm to curate user-generated videos from major events like concerts and sports.
Like the rest of Explore, the feature is personalized for each user based on the photos and videos they like and who they follow. So far, the updates are only available in the U.S., but Instagram says it plans to bring the feature to the rest of the world soon.
Here’s how it works: Clicking on a video from Adele’s concert in Phoenix, for example, lets users swipe down to scroll through other videos taken at the same show. Another video curated shows footage from the Rio Olympics featuring track and field athletes.
It’s not the first time Instagram has tried its hand at curated videos. As Fortune points out, it created a hand-picked list of videos for Halloween last year.
Earlier this month, Instagram debuted its Stories feature that lets users take photos and 10-second videos that disappear after 24 hours. (Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom told Techcrunch that Snapchat deserves “all the credit” for making the format popular.)
Facebook has also been trying out live filters similar to Snapchat’s. Marcos Angelini, head of Facebook’s office in Brazil, told Adweek the filters have been quickly adopted in the beta markets of Brazil and Canada during the Olympics.
