What is Reels Feature on Instagram?

Instagram has launched a new feature that, like the TikTok app, allows users to create short videos that can be shared with friends and followers and can also be seen while browsing the app.

This is the latest feature of Instagram to spend more time in this app and turn Instagram into a video entertainment platform. 

While the future of TikTok is uncertain, Instagram hopes to attract users with its new feature called Reels.

https://twitter.com/instagram/status/1290996458552832001

Of course, this is not the first time that Facebook has imitated TikTok. However, due to the extreme popularity of this application, Instagram action was predictable.

If you remember, Facebook imitated video stories from Snapshot a few years ago.

  • Reels feature is available in more than 50 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia, and is available for Android and iOS.

Reels Feature on Instagram

Since the controversy and fringe around the TikTok app have peaked, Instagram has now chosen the best opportunity to release this feature officially.

Of course, this is not the first time that Facebook has imitated TikTok. However, due to the extreme popularity of this application, Instagram action was predictable.

If you remember, Facebook imitated video stories from Snapshot a few years ago.

What is Reels On Instagram?

Users can create 15-second videos in Reels and add popular music to them. Also, they can apply a set of filters and effects to videos.

 To make the videos made in Reels more visible, Instagram also changed the layout of the Explorer section.

Like the For You page on TikTok, the Reels videos appear as a horizontal scroll bar at the top of the Explorer page.

One of the main features of Reels is the ability to slow down video, similar to TikTok.

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Reels feature is available for Private or Public profiles. However, having a public profile will be effective for more visibility.

For those who want to share videos with their friends, videos created by private accounts are only displayed on the front page and stories.

Reels does not need a new application, and it is possible to use it completely from within the Instagram app.

What is the difference between Instagram Stories and Reels?

The biggest difference between Story and Reels goes back to how the two were shared.

When you upload a Reel‌, this video is automatically shared in the new Reels section of the Explorer tab.

However, you can share it on your page similar to IGTV.

All the Reels you make will be visible in a specific part of your profile (just like IGTV).

Focus on Explore; The key to Instagram’s new strategy (Reels)

If you have used the TikTok app, you know that the main difference between this app and Instagram is that the main feed of TikTok to users is not followers, but you see videos that are automatically For You.

A feed contains an unlimited stream of short videos that make TikTok addictive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW6o0WNHs-E

While new Instagram users have to work hard to attract followers; The new TikTok user can get a lot of attention when their video reaches the For You page.

In this way, Instagram tries to overcome its main weakness, creating a platform for novice content producers with Reels.

Similarities between TikTok and Reels

The introduction of this feature by Instagram comes when Trump has raised the possibility of blocking the TikTok app in the United States.

Also, Microsoft has expressed interest in buying TikTok. bytedance, the owner of TikTok, misjudged Facebook and accused the company of stealing its innovation.

But Instagram product manager Robby Stein says that although TikTok has popular short videos, the two products are different.

“I think TikTok deserves a ton of credit for popularizing formats in this space, and it’s just great to work,” Stein told The Verge.

“But at the end of the day, no two products are exactly alike, and ours are not either.”

That’s a familiar line to people who remember when Instagram first launched Stories in 2016, and the company was accused of creating a Snapchat clone.

Stein said that his team received it. “very similar feedback when we launched Stories.”

But Instagram Stories quickly surpassed Snapchat in daily users and has continued to be a massively successful product.

That history of success is one of the strongest reasons for Instagram’s team to think it can pull Reels off.

TikTok did it first, but maybe Instagram can do it better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH_ojHYUzAY

Part of that strategy focuses on what Stein believes Instagram does best:

creating easy-to-use technology for whoever wants to make a video.

When opening Instagram to make a Reel, people will be able to slide to a new section of the camera that comes with an assortment of tools.

Reels can be recorded either at once or as a series of clips, or people can upload videos from their photo gallery.

The camera’s new features are similar to TikTok’s, with options to mess with speed, apply special effects, set a timer, and add audio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZML6GUS7bxk

Instagram’s product team is “really positioning Instagram camera around a few core formats,” according to Stein.

Stories are designed as a social feature — quick little snippets people want to share with their followers.

Reels are designed with entertainment in mind, an area that Instagram wants to focus on.

Part of that focus includes the redesign of Instagram’s Explore page.

More than 50 percent of people use Instagram’s Explore page in a month, Stein said, and now there’ll be a dedicated hub for Reels.

This is essentially Reels’ equivalent of the “For You Page” on TikTok, a place for creators to go viral or find new followers possibly.

Some Features not yet on Reels

There are a few other features that Reels did not have at the beginning, but users can not “duet” with each other right now.

A key feature of TikTok is that it allows users to interact with each other and make videos together.

Instagram Reels also does not allow users to upload music directly to the app, while musicians are looking to use the app to popularize a song.

Users can record a song live to make it available later, says Instagram’s product manager.

Others can use it and reset it, but there is no direct upload capability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_bpCR_4MDg

Like TikTok or Vine, Reels are not a world of their own, but merely a new feature on Instagram; This is a new thing that can be done on Instagram and is another way to find entertainment by browsing Instagram its stories.

Although this lack of focus may lead to weakness, Stein sees it differently, saying, I think one of the interesting things about this feature is that it is not a product of separation.

It is just another feature of Instagram.

Instagram focuses on entertainment

Stein says the Instagram team puts the camera around a few key features. Stories are designed as a more social feature.

Small pieces that people want to share with their followers. But Reels is based on having fun, something Instagram wants to focus on.

Part of that focus is redesigning Instagram’s Explore page.
More than 50% of people use the Instagram Explorer page every month, and now there will be a dedicated section for Reels.

This is similar to the “For You” section in TikTok, where users can get new followers and become famous.

Read more: The Perfect Guide to Getting on the Instagram Explore Page

A platform for content creators

TikTok and Instagram are more than just camera-based software. They are a community for constant and growing content producers.

According to Stein, Instagram’s main goal is to be an ecosystem for all content creators and find their place on the platform.

For example, introducing new features provides the conditions for content creators’ videos to be seen and popular.

However, Instagram still does not pay the creators of popular videos, as TikTok has begun to do.

Instagram currently allows influencers and content creators to monetize through sponsored brands and posts but does not pay users directly for content.

TikTok did not do so until recently but announced last month that it had set aside $ 200 million to pay for video production.

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It is possible to earn money through IGTV Instagram

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TikTok hopes to increase the budget to $ 1 billion. The message is clear:

We want you to stay on TikTok and produce content for TikTok, and we will pay you to do so.

Although Instagram does not currently have a plan in this regard, Austin emphasizes that it is important to allow people to earn money.

I do not have the Reels feature on Instagram if my friends do; What should I do?

There is nothing you can do right now. Instagram brings this feature to different user accounts over time. You have to wait.

How to use Reels feature on Instagram

Just enter the story page. If this feature is enabled for you, next to the STORY option, you will see the new REELS option.

You can then start recording the video by pressing the shutter button.

You can also use the buttons on the left side of the screen to change the music, video speed or effects, and timer. see more below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJi4d9dB1eI

Aloman
Hi, I'm Alomen; an Instagram and digital marketing expert. This Website shows tutorials, tips, and tricks on how to use Instagram. If you have any questions or problems with Instagram, you can call me with the hashtag #Alomen and I will answer in now time. Sign up for our email newsletter to stay in touch with our Team.
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