But Instagram and its parent company Facebook(FB) find it harder to do the same with TikTok.
Instagram launched Reels, a short video product, in the United States on Aug. 5, days after former President Donald Trump announced plans to ban Chinese-owned TikTok in the country, leaving users in panic looking for alternatives.
Six months later, things are not going the way the company had hoped. TikTok has survived the Trump administration and remains popular, with about 100 million users in the US, a significant impact on American pop culture, and a loyal mix of influencers who seem to be going nowhere.Unlike Stories at this point in its history, Instagram hasn’t released any stats on Reels so far.
“TikTok is light years ahead of Reels,” said Evan Asano, CEO of influencer marketing agency Mediakix, referring to TikTok’s powerful recommendation system and the fact that the app is much more focused than Instagram’s, which has a growing list of competing video offerings. has. .
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, recently admitted that Reel’s work had to do and hinted that Instagram needs to simplify or consolidate the offering of various video products.
“I’m not happy with it yet,” Mosseri said in a Verge interview about Reels last month. “We are growing in both how many people share and how much people consume, but we still have a long way to go.”
Facebook has come under scrutiny by regulators and critics for its aggressive approach to acquiring or cloning rivals to maintain its dominance in the social media market. But Instagram’s early battle to tackle TikTok reminds us that a number of Facebook’s copycat products have flopped or fell short. Building a clone is easy; creating a vibrant community isn’t even for the social media giant.
Instagram has made some tweaks to the product since launch, including Reels own tab on Instagram’s home screen and more editing tools. But Instagram Reels largely remains a home to TikToks’ greatest hits, with many people reposting popular TikTok videos using the platform’s trademark watermark to Reels. It is common to browse Reels videos and watch one TikTok video after another.
“Everyone will always tell me ‘I’m going to film TikToks,’ but they never say ‘We’re going to film Reels,'” said Parker Pannell, a 17-year-old with 2.4 million TikTok followers who thinks of posting on Reels as a side issue. “TikTok creates the trends, they build new creators, people build their most loyal followers [there]. People are so spoiledin this environment of TikTok, they are not yet ready to switch to another platform like Reels. ”
It’s not the first time Instagram has struggled to get to grips with video. In 2018, it introduced a new full-length video feature and standalone app called IGTV, in an effort to better compete with YouTube, but it struggled to get off the ground. Instagram eventually removed the IGTV button from people’s feeds because hardly anyone clicked it. Now IGTV videos are part of the main feed.
With Reels, Instagram has tried to replicate much of what makes TikTok popular, including editing effects and the ability to add music or a background sound. But what’s more difficult to emulate is TikTok’s powerful “For You Page” and its algorithm, which provides videos tailored to the interests of each user.
“I’d never count Instagram somehow. They’re mostly laser focus on how to stay ahead of the competition,” said Karyn Spencer, CMO of influencer agency Whalar and the former head of the creators of the short video platform Vine. “At the same time, I don’t think any of us are experiencing the same kind of algorithm on Instagram that we are currently experiencing on TikTok.”
The slower start with Reels may also reveal a broader problem with Instagram. “Do the simple first” has long been a mantra for the company, but some social media experts say the app has become increasingly complex and confusing as more features are introduced. And it’s hard not to feel the influence of Facebook, especially since Instagram’s founders left in 2018.
TikTok’s simplicity gives it a “big advantage,” said Mediakix’s Asano, adding that Instagram now has shopping, Stories, Reels and other video formats that he believes are competing with each other.
“Soon you will have a monster that no one can understand,” he said.
