Facebook unveils video sharing for Instagram

Facebook introduced video for Instagram today.

This means if you are one of the 130-million people who use Instagram and see something worth sharing that would be better in video, you can shoot it with your phone and share it. The maximum length for videos is 15 seconds and users will be able to edit the footage and add one of 13 new filters built specifically for video. Some of the filters include making the video black and white or changing the hues.

"Some moments...need more than a static image to come to life," said co-founder Kevin Systrom on a blog about the new product. "Until now these stories have been missing from Instagram. Today, we're thrilled to introduce Video on Instagram and bring you another way to share your stories."

Just like taking a video on most phones, when you go to take a picture in the app, you'll see a video camera icon, press it and start rolling.

"We're excited to see what the community will bring to video, whether it's your local cafe showing you just how they made your latte art this morning or an Instagrammer on the other side of the world taking you on a tour of their city, a mother sharing her joys in parenting as her children laugh and play or your favorite athlete taking you behind the scenes," said Systrom.

Same as photos, only the people who see your photos will be able to see your videos.

Instagram also introduced Cinema, which takes shaky mobile video and turns it into something watchable.

These new video tools are available for all iOS and Android devices through Apple's App Store and Google Play, respectively.

Twitter launched a similar video-sharing app in January called Vine. Users on Twitter can directly shoot and upload six-second videos for their followers to see. Video on Instagram is seen as competition for Vine.

Instagram had about 20 million users when Facebook bought the company more than a year ago.

Introducing Video on Instagram from Instagram on Vimeo.

(Image courtesy of Facebook)

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