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Instagram is trying to turn all the videos on its platform into a “Reel,” the short-form video imitation of the TikTok format.
A screenshot of the Instagram app that Meta, its parent company, appears to be testing, tells users that “video posts are now shared as Reels.”
It includes features such as other people using the original audio of the video to create their own Reel, or “remix” the Reel, similar to TikTok’s “Duet” feature.
“We are testing this feature as part of our efforts to simplify and enhance the video experience on Instagram,” a Meta spokesman said in an email to TechCrunch.
The only way to make sure no other user can use a video for a remix is to turn off the option in the Instagram settings menu or turn it off for every video that is posted.
TikTok videos have been popular on both Facebook and Instagram, accounting for about one-fifth of the content consumed on Instagram. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said Reels are the fastest growing content formats on the platforms and product director Chris Cox called them the company’s “bright spot”.
Rollers will be a bigger focus for Meta in the second half of 2022, when the company intends to monetize it more.
Converting all video content to Reels provides Meta with more content to circulate, and therefore would mean that people would spend more time on the platform and consume more advertising.
Last year, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said the app “is no longer a photo-sharing app” and that most people come to Instagram to “entertain.”
Mosseri also said Instagram has “very serious competition right now … TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger, and there are many other beginners as well.”
Following this news, Instagram shut down its long-running IGTV video feature and combined it with Instagram Feed videos in the “Instagram Video” format.