Instagram rumoured to add video functionality on 20 June

Feature could help photo-sharing application compete with Vine

Rumours suggest that social photo sharing app Instagram will be introducing video to its service at a Facebook conference on June 20th.

According to a source that has spoken to TechCrunch, the changes would allow Instagram users to share small clips of video of 5-10 seconds in length, but beyond this there is only speculation.

The news certainly makes sense given the rocketing popularity of Twitter-owned Vine – a service that allows for sharing of 6 second loops of video with or without sound, with users able to stop and start footage whilst recording it.

TechCrunch also noted that the popularity of Vine videos has overtaken that of Instagram following its launch in January, at least partly due to the fact that Vine content can be viewed within individuals’ Twitter feeds – whilst the Facebook-owned Instagram has to link out to its content.

The Facebook event on June 20th has promised to unveil “A small team working on a big idea” but so far there are no confirmed reports of what this could be.

If Instagram did add video functionality then it could bolster the product’s success as a social network in its own right, rather than simply a photo-sharing add-on for other sites.