Halloween might be one of the largest recorded holidays on social media. From emoji costumes to the cast of Star Wars, costumes, candy and everything in between for this year’s Halloween celebration was found all over social media platforms, specifically Instagram. Over the weekend, Instagram started its own curated stream of Halloween videos submitted by users. Though they might be late in the game compared to biggest competitors Twitter and Snapchat, Instagram may have just created a revolutionary function for the site’s further development.
Though there might be a little copycatting going on, The Washington Post claims that Halloween was the perfect opportunity for Instagram to launch their own curated stream. With good timing and widespread impact, this new function really does make perfect sense. Both Snapchat and Twitter have been doing it for quite some time now (Snapchat Live Stories and Twitter Moments). TechTimes.com cites that snapchat recently reported having 4 billion video views per day, which puts Snapchat in the same league as Facebook, Instagram’s parent company.
Though it’s only available to U.S. residents as of right now, Instagram users can go to the “Explore” tab and watch handpicked content decided by Instagram. Similar to Snapchat and Twitter, users simply had to tag #IGHalloween on their posts. Even a few big shots were engaging in #IGHalloween such as supermodel Heidi Klum in her costume, astronaut Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Station, and first family, the Obamas.
Though this new function might have been a “one-hint-wonder” for Instagram it wasn’t a bad move on the company’s part. Instagram is known for its photo functions but not its video functions. By creating a curated stream, Instagram is putting a focus on its developing video content in order to keep up with rival social media platforms (cough cough, we’re looking at you, Snapchat). Instagram has become a social media hit because of its attention to artistic and unique photo sharing, but in order to stay up-to-date, video content is going to be necessary.
So, was Instagram’s move toward curation simply in response to its competition? Or will this truly be a useful tool for users? It’s early to say considering the collection has only been an option once, but Instagram told Recode that there will be more to come in the future. If big celebs are making it onto Instagram’s curated stream, then it’s possible marketing for companies and events won’t be far behind. So maybe it is just friendly competition between social media’s star, or it’s possible it’s also the world’s next subliminal marketing tool.
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