Instagram is sparing no expenses when it comes to competing with TikTok. With the ByteDance-owned short video-sharing platform making waves in the market, the Meta-owned Instagram has continued to compete with the Chinese upstart.
That is how Reels was born two years ago, and as recent as Q1 2022, it was found that it has become so popular that Reels make up over 20% of the time people spend on Instagram. Unsurprisingly, this means that Instagram will continue to expand this offering, and now, it is testing a way to turn video posts on its platform into Reels.
This development was confirmed by the company, according to a TechCrunch report. “We’re testing this feature as part of our efforts to simplify and improve the video experience on Instagram,” a spokesperson from Meta said in an email to the online newspaper.
Should Instagram successfully roll out the method to turn video posts into Reels, this will greatly expand Instagram’s TikTok-like offering and enable people to spend even more time on Reels. They will also attract and retain more creators, who will look to earn more from the offering, which will boost Instagram’s revenue and user numbers in the long run.
It will also prove Instagram head Adam Mosseri’s statement last year. At that time, he said that Instagram was “no longer a photo-sharing app,” rather, it was moving towards videos, doubling down on Reels, and shifting its focus towards “creators, video, shopping, and messaging.”
Currently, the Meta-owned Instagram is testing the feature with select users across the world, cited the report. If you are one of them then you will receive a pop-up message saying that you can use the audio of a video to create your own Reels.
Of course, this will happen only if your account is public and you share a video. Also, you can create a remix with the Reel and download it as part of your remix, but you can turn off remixing from settings.
The development was made public by social media industry expert Matt Navarra, who posted a screenshot on Twitter saying, “video posts are now shared as Reels.” It is, however, unclear what the development means for existing videos posted on Instagram’s platform, or when the new feature will roll out globally.
