Instagram, owned by Facebook, announced the launch of the Reels function within its social network. It is a new modality for sharing videos and which seeks to compete with TikTok, the current leader in this segment, but which faces an uncertain future in the United States.
“On Instagram, we always see how our users use the platform and other social platforms, and a year ago we started working on the development of a new function to create and edit short videos for users to permanently demonstrate their creativity via Reels,” explained Instagram Product Manager Tessa Lyons-Lasing.
The new service will allow the creation of 15-second videos with editing tools, augmented reality and the integration of music in the content, the same components that made TikTok a unique platform in the social media market.
Unlike Instagram Stories, Reels are videos that will not disappear unless the user deletes them. Users will be able to see this new format in the feed of the people they follow, but it will also be possible to enter it through a new option that will be enabled in the search bar of the social network.
The release of Reels began on August 6 in 50 countries, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Mexico. It will also be possible to use it in Brazil, where Facebook started testing this feature, as well as in India, where TikTok and other applications of Chinese origin were banned from June.
Reels seeks to compete for the preference of current users of TikTok, a social network that has a record of 2 billion users and a capitalization value of $ 50 billion. The application, owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, is currently negotiating its sale to Microsoft with the intention of avoiding its ban in the United States for national security reasons.