It’s no secret that Mark Zuckerberg simply create his own version if there’s a popular app or feature that Facebook can’t buy. It was Snapchat at first. The next is TikTok.
Instagram added a new feature called Reels in an attempt to steal the crown of the best producer of viral content. The video tool allows users to create short 15-second clips that can be uploaded to their stories with music and everything.
Talking of the service, Product Management Manager Robby Stein went on to say, “No two products are exactly the same, and at the end of the day, sharing video with music is a pretty universal concept that we hope everyone might be interested in using.” He also added that the emphasis was on how to make Reels a special format for them.
Nevertheless, the report mentions that unlike TikTok, not everything has to be openly posted as users can only post Reels to certain groups or through Direct Message. If publicly shared, it will appear in the Explore tab’s Top Reels page. The new feature is visible under Stories alongside the filters Boomerang and Super-Zoom.
The huge music portfolio of Facebook has obtained Reels from all the major labels and many small publishers. Users choose the chunk of the song they want, and then they can capture or upload multiple video clips to complete their Reel.
Furthermore, a new set of editing tools is also available for Instagram Reels. Timed subtitles, new transitions, video filters, special effects, and more are supported. Stein said there will soon be more advanced transitions and effects as well.
Instagram Reels’ clear purpose is to facilitate the creation of TikTok-like viral videos directly in the Instagram app and then share them with Instagram Stories.
Instagram Reels is currently only available in Brazil. There’s no timeline for it to arrive in other countries, but it’s not uncommon for Instagram to trial a product in a single market before a broader rollout begins.
It will be quite interesting to see how Instagram is able to roll out this feature in other populous countries like India where there is a huge fan base of its counterpart Tiktok.
