Instagram is going all-in on the Reels game, and the new decision by the social media platform proves this even further. Amid the ever-growing popularity of TikTok’s quick videos, Instagram and its parent company, Meta, have taken notice.
Instagram has already taken a number of strides to push Reels, including the use of templates, allowing reaction to content, and a dual feature that lets you record using the front and back camera at the same time.
Now, Instagram will be forcing videos to be Reels. All videos posted on Instagram from now on will be placed into the Reels tab, so long as they are under 15 minutes.
The image below is what users will see when they go to post an Instagram video after this update:
The Instagram Help Center states the following:
For public accounts: Anyone on Instagram can remix your reels and feed videos shared after remixing became available.
If you have a public account, you can turn off remixing for reels, feed videos or both without changing your account’s privacy settings. You can also turn remixing off for individual videos.
Any video greater than 15 minutes or videos posted prior to the change will not be pushed out as Reels. Only videos that are below 90 seconds can be promoted by the Reels algorithm as well (Discovery and recommendation system).
In addition to Instagram, Facebook is also getting some changes, with Facebook Reels being heavily pushed out as well.
It seems that the world of vertical, short videos is continuing to expand. TikTok has swept the world by a storm, and even Google has admitted that approximately 40% of Gen Z prefers to use TikTok and Instagram over its own search engines.
It seems that businesses have also caught onto the power of social media and influencers, as the rise of nano-influencers has become even more probable with the rise in short-video content.
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