Instagram has removed the controversial IGTV button from its app.
The social network has tried a number of methods to encourage users to engage with its IGTV platform, designed to offer long-form content on the platform such as TV shows, but it seems as though Facebook has given up on the idea of pushing the concept to users.
As first spotted by TechCrunch, users will no longer see the IGTV logo when they open their Instagram app, as users were “more often discovering content” in their newsfeed or via the standalone Instagram TV app, which launched alongside the feature when it arrived in 2018.
“As we’ve continued to work on making it easier for people to create and discover IGTV content, we’ve learned that most people are finding IGTV content through previews in Feed, the IGTV channel in Explore, creators’ profiles and the standalone app,” Facebook said.
“Very few are clicking into the IGTV icon in the top right corner of the home screen in the Instagram app,” the company added in a press release.
“We always aim to keep Instagram as simple as possible, so we’re removing this icon based on these learnings and feedback from our community.”
What’s interesting to note is that, whilst Instagram has more than one billion users around the world, only seven million have downloaded the IGTV app since it launched in June 2018.
TikTok, one of Instagram’s biggest competitors, has been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times in the same period as IGTV launched, demonstrating the company’s new uphill battle.
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