Instagram Reels, Facebook’s competitor to TikTok, launched
Facebook in an attempt to compete with TikTok — a new short-form video format on Instagram — is launched to users the new feature Instagram Reels.
Reels allows users to record and edit short-form videos with audio and music soundtracks — as users already do on TikTok. Facebook first started testing Reels with users in Brazil in November, before rolling out in the last few months to France, Germany, and India.
The debut of Instagram’s Reels in the US comes as fears spike over TikTok’s future in US, as the Trump administration threatens to ban TikTok nationwide. Although the path to a ban is not clear, TikTok’s US users are already panicking and looking for alternatives to the platform in preparation. ByteDance has been looking to sell TikTok’s US operations to an American company in an attempt to salvage its presence, and Microsoft has emerged as a potential buyer.