BBC launches Instagram news
January 20, 2014
BBC News is stepping up its social media offerings after mobile and tablet viewing figures overtook desktop use for the first time in December.
BBC News launched Instafax, a new short-form video news service delivered to Instagram users. The project is a month-long experiment, with three 15-second videos uploaded a day, intended to serve as a roundup of the day’s news.
The name is a an echo of BBC’s former Ceefax service – the world’s first teletext service that ran on UK television until 2012.
Steve Herrmann, head of BBC News Online, said the trial was a response to changing audience patterns after monthly figures for December, showed mobile and tablet consumption had overtaken desktop for the first time.
“We want the process to be organic, and we’re keen to trial new ideas on how we can use our video content to reach new audiences,” Herrmann said.
“[BBC News director] James Harding has been clear in his vision to find innovative ways to bring the best of our journalism to new audiences, something our team has been looking at for some time.”