Instagram has today launched Reels in more than 50 countries, a new feature designed to compete with TikTok. It is used to create short 15-second videos where you can mix video, audio and special effects.
Reels is not a surprise feature: Instagram has been testing it for a few months in India and Brazil. But the launch today in more than 50 countries, with everything that is happening with TikTok these days, seems like a way to mark territory by Instagram.
- China accuses US about TikTok with theft
- Snapchat will allow you to add songs to compete with TikTok
- Microsoft has an intention to buy Tiktok
The United States fears that China will take advantage of the immense popularity of TikTok (children and adolescents already use it more than YouTube) to “spy on American interests”. So Trump plans to ban it in the United States, unless a North American company buys the US subsidiary before September 15. Microsoft is already negotiating…
This decision by Trump has made American social networks nervous, who are going to find a new national competitor that they did not have. Instagram / Facebook and Google cannot buy TikTok because it would be a monopoly, but surely they are not amused that Microsoft becomes a direct competitor.
So to mark distances, Instagram today introduced Reels, a new feature of its mobile app, framed within Stories. As we have mentioned, with Reels you can record short 15-second videos that are later edited with a built-in tool to add music, audio, filters and special effects.
These Reels can be shared in the same way as Stories, and the rest of the content of Instagram. Also within the Explore section there is now a section for these short videos, where you can discover the most popular ones.
If you want to try Reels, just update your Instagram app for iOS or Android.
