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Instagram's TikTok-Style 'Reels' Feature to Launch in US Next Month

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Instagram's new "Reels" feature is coming to the U.S. in early August, Facebook has confirmed (via Business Insider). The TikTok-style short-form video feature made its debut in Brazil late last year, and allows Instagram users to record and edit 15-second video clips with audio and music soundtracks.

instagram-reels.jpeg

Instagram users will be able to create and share Reels to their Stories, and can access their short-form videos in a new, dedicated tab on their profiles. Public accounts will have their videos shared on the app's Explore page, and users will have the option of displaying Reels on their profiles and in followers' Feeds.

The U.S. launch will follow the testing of Reels in India this month, after a ban of TikTok in the country. NBC News reports that Facebook is set to launch Reels in over 50 countries "in a matter of weeks." The move comes as TikTok faces intense scrutiny for its ties to China, with U.S. government officials recently threatening to ban the app over security concerns.

Instagram lacks the scrollable feed of TikTok, but regardless of whether or not the latter app is banned, Facebook is clearly hoping to win over users from the rival social platform. Meanwhile, Snapchat has also started testing TikTok-style navigation for its video content, while YouTube is testing an in-app feature for short-form video with a "small group" of people.

Article Link: Instagram's TikTok-Style 'Reels' Feature to Launch in US Next Month
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/07/17/instagram-reels-feature-us-next-month/
nwcs said:
Another reason I’m glad I got rid of Instagram. More things that would be forced into the feed that you can’t get rid of.
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these Reels will be on Stories, the most skippable part of IG (just a row of icons at the top of the feed)—either way, the execs probably think they have to do this so they’re not completely destroyed by TikTok, which is the path things are (unfortunately) currently on

(read: I use Instagram but I also hate it lmao…I’d elaborate but that’s more of a PRSI tangent)
 
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phenste said:
these Reels will be on Stories, the most skippable part of IG (just a row of icons at the top of the feed)—either way, the execs probably think they have to do this so they’re not completely destroyed by TikTok, which is the path things are (unfortunately) currently on

(read: I use Instagram but I also hate it lmao…I’d elaborate but that’s more of a PRSI tangent)
Click to expand...

Nope, they are in the Explore page. One of these Reels takes up half of your initial Explore view. Like that "tv" thing in the upper left corner, but now much larger. Highly annoying. But then again, the whole Explore page is mostly annoying since it doesn't show things that I have ever looked at/liked/interacted with before. Instead, it shows general ****. (I am in Brazil.)
 
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I'm a little divided on this one. On one hand, it's nice to see a new social media company come in and finally threaten the monopoly that Facebook has on social media. On the other hand, I just wish it wasn't based in China. However, if their servers are here and all domestic data resides on them with no access from abroad then *maybe* its ok. It would also need to be ensured that Tiktok isn't reading things on my smarthphone that it shouldn't--or at least any more than Facebook already does.
 
I use to think this was a youth thing. (Spoiler this might show my age lol). I have a neighbor in his 50s that posts on TikTok. Maybe I am missing something. I mean sure some videos are entertaining but for the most part its all just garbage. Also read recently that some TikTok "Star" committed suicide. While this is tragic I wish they would stop using "Star" to describe these people. Anyway lost where I was going with this. Oh yes what I meant to say was. Oh lord please just make it stop.
 
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nnn3 said:
Nope, they are in the Explore page. One of these Reels takes up half of your initial Explore view. Like that "tv" thing in the upper left corner, but now much larger. Highly annoying. But then again, the whole Explore page is mostly annoying since it doesn't show things that I have ever looked at/liked/interacted with before. Instead, it shows general ****. (I am in Brazil.)
Click to expand...

my explorer feed is actually „too“ accurate like it shows me photos of people I already follow just by „fan accounts“. Quite annoying. Barely using it for this reason
 
"With insomnia, nothing's real. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy"

Life is insomnia...
 
Should be interesting to see how it works out. So far, Instagram has been successful in adding features seen on others like Snapchat and make them even more popular. Instagram already has a huge user base advantage here. They may be able to overtake TikTok in popularity by adding such a feature.
 
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dickie001x said:
...just like iTunes was a few years ago!
Click to expand...

As far back as I can remember iTunes was always feature packed. They almost immediately had the store and all the ways to edit your library and all that.

It certainly provided way more utility to me than anything Facebook does. :)
 
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