New York: Facebook’s ‘Instagram’ is launching its answer to the hit short video app ‘TikTok’. It is being called ‘Instagram Reels’. TikTok is among the 59 Chinese apps banned by the Indian government.
‘Instagram Reels’ will let users record and edit 15-second multi-clip videos with audio. It will let users add visual effects. Users will be able to share Reels with followers in Instagram in a dedicated section called ‘Reels in Explore’, or in the ‘Story’ feature where posts disappear after 24 hours. The Reels option will be available at the bottom of Instagram camera.
Facebook has a long tradition of cloning competitive services. The Instagram ‘Story’ feature is similar to Snapchat.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced tough questioning about the company’s habit of copying rivals before a congressional hearing July 29.
Now, though, TikTok is under fire, possibly opening an opportunity for Facebook.
Microsoft is in talk s to buy parts of ‘TikTok’ in what would be a forced sale following threats from President Donald Trump to ban the Chinese-owned video app. The video app claims it has 100 million US users and hundreds of millions globally.
Reels is launching in over 50 countries, including the US, India, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, Japan, Australia and others on iOS and Android.