Instagram has deployed its response to TikTok | Gadget theory

For a long time now, TikTok has reigned supreme on social media, capturing the attention of the population most difficult to retain: young adolescents. Its popularity has spread to older teens, college students and adults, making it one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. However, TikTok has come under fire lately, especially in the United States, which has threatened to ban the video-sharing app altogether. India has already banned the app, citing security concerns. Instagram was quick to launch and has now released, Reels, their version of a 15-second clip-sharing platform.

Instagram unveils reels

According to Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, Reels is “a new way to create and experience short, entertaining videos on Instagram. With Reels, you can record and edit multi-clip videos with music, effects, and new creative tools. Share reels with friends on Feed or with the larger Instagram community in Explore.

Other Reels features include setting up Reels to music from the app’s built-in music library, adding AR effects, a countdown timer for easy hands-free recording, and recording capabilities. quick editing.

Reels is Instagram’s answer to TikTok

Seems familiar? That’s because it’s pretty much the same as TikTok. Instagram has been working on this new feature for about a year, so it’s no surprise. However, the timing has been quite interesting, given the scrutiny that TikTok faces. Instagram reached 1 billion active users in 2018, so it’s no wonder the tech giant decided to jump into the arena of short videos.

This isn’t the first time Instagram has created a copy feature of other successful apps. In 2016, Instagram added its ‘Stories’ feature, which had very similar functionality to its successful competitor, Snapchat. In response to the allegations of blatant plagiarism, Instagram co-founder and then CEO Kevin Systrom said via an interview with Recode that: “the common characteristics of the two social applications to the automotive industry: several car manufacturers can coexist, with enough differences between them to serve different consumer audiences”.

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For those who are curious about TikTok style videos and already have an Instagram account, this is a great way to get acquainted with short videos, often dance fads or other viral trends. While many worry about the safety of using TikTok, passionate users and influencers are very concerned about what the future holds.

For now, we can still enjoy short clips on TikTok, but in case it disappears from the US market, we’ll still have Reels. Only time will tell what the fate of these apps will be, but we can guarantee that Instagram will always be around to work on a competitive version of any popular social media app.