The Instagram Reels vs. TikTok Face-off
The face-off in the world of social media and content creation continues in full sprint. Unlike back in 2016 when Instagram Stories ripped off Snapchat all the way down to face filters and names, the introduction of Instagram Reels by Facebook is shyer of its pursuit. Perhaps this is due to litigation, controversy, privacy concerns or a deflation of the monopoly, but the one thing Reels has going for it is timing: with TikTok being banned increasingly in countries, most popularly in India where it was in 14 languages, the alternative is a hearty welcome… if not simply due to lack of options. The platform, despite being a basic knockoff, is actually pretty solid in it’s launch strategy. Why is that?
Reaches out to an established Instagram following
Instagram fame is no joke, with verified profiles and classified influencers making the platform boom. Plus, with a solid backing of analytics and paid social, it’s easy to get your followers to see your Reels. Most Instagram stars have a legacy Instagram following, often over TikTok, so the scale up to Reels fame is easy and quick.
Capitalizing on familiarity
Instagram Reels certainly look similar to TikTok videos. The logo, in classic Instagram style, is more mature and less “Gen Z“, passively embracing the millennial and Gen X generations of Instagram. A Reels collection is a tab in Instagram, looking similar to a TikTok profile page, with the number of videos on the left. This separate tab is dedicated for these 15 second videos, with the ability to film, add filters, add music, and share. Each Reel plays out for 15 seconds, with the fairly standard and similar like, comment, share on the bottom, naturally available for sharing across Instagram’s own sources (DM, Stories, etc.). A viewer can also see how many likes and comments the reel has received, and dissimilar to TikTok, cannot see how many likes the user has given, a metric that was in question across all social media platforms for years. And with music in particular, Instagram has already partnered with national and international labels to make the music accessible sans copyright issues.
Timing and the debate of attention spans
TikTok has 60 seconds to showcase a user’s creativity. Instagram Reels sticks with 15 seconds, perhaps owing to shrinking attention spans, or arguing that the majority of videos on Instagram are indeed this short (capped within each story, too). The other thought seems to be that Instagram does not wish to cannibalize its own Instagram Live, longer video format, and formulate a clear distinction between quick consumption and longer views. The ultimate result is that a ‘view’ of a 15 second video will be consumed faster than anything longer, contributing to higher view rates owing to the sheer length. Since Facebook is analytics oriented to eventually draw in advertisers, this 15 second cap is a smart, future facing choice.
A cleaner and intuitive interface
The reason many “older generations”, including older millennials, did not jump on TikTok the way Gen Z did is that it was new. While TikTok is eventually easy to figure out and find what’s trending, the hyper addictive nature had a slower uptick in older generations. Comparatively, all Reels are watermarked to differentiate between posts that are videos, live or Reels. This ensures clarity, transparency, and security for content creators. The placement of reels in the discover feed also ensures it will get massive quantities of eyeballs. Here, the Reels icon is a clapperboard in the left side. The downside for heavy duty content creators is a lack of video stabilization or wide angle lens support and fewer filters or beautify tools on Reels… but it brings the onus back on Instagram’s content creators to blend the reels with their content in a simple, intuitive and true-to-themselves way.
A focus on (individual) content creators
The collaborative Duet feature and React feature from TikTok is not present on Reels. Neither is there a dedicated explore for Reels only. These were conversation starters and high on the engagement front for TikTok, boosting it’s authenticity versus Instagram, plagued unceremoniously for the ability to purchase likes and comments. In combination with fewer video editing tools like TikTok, the strategy from Instagram to be to harmonize a content creator’s Instagram feed with their stories and the live features. While admittedly a simpler rendition overall, it’s simplicity will make it look like one individual person’s entire page without too much alteration, and that alone brings us back to the authenticity and uniqueness of each content creator.
TikTok has had numerous accolades in it’s belt, with users from 2nd and 3rd tier cities and Gen Z as it’s core users. With more than 2 billion downloads, it beat Instagram by over 238 million users. It is still a world favorite product, but with the combination of Facebook’s monopolistic game changing strategies and bans across countries, Instagram Reels definitely poses a threat. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see what rebuttal strategy TikTok adopts. If any, which may be best to stay true to its organic growth and roots.
Image credit: @karan.pahuja07
