TikTok is a threat to Facebook.
Instagram (owned by Facebook) has just launched Reels as its answer to the viral short video app TikTok.
The new feature allows users create and edit short 15-second videos with the abilities to overlay audio and visual effects. It can be shared via Reels to within Instagram in a new dedicated section called “Reels in Explore” or in the InstaStory section.
Facebook’s first attempt to rival TikTok was a standalone app called Lasso, which was shut down recently. The company has been testing Reels in Brazil since November 2019 and in France, Germany, and India since earlier this summer.
This couldn’t come at a more perfect timing as TikTok is facing a potential ban in the US.
“We are in a place where we have to be willing to acknowledge when someone did something awesome and try to learn from it,” said by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri earlier this year, speaking about Snapchat.