Why Instagram Reels Will Succeed
By: Hisham Iqbal
Tags: Technology, Social Media, Tiktok, Instagram, Reels

Why Instagram Reels Will Succeed

Sure, Instagram “stole” the product of TikTok and implemented it onto their platform but there are methods to Zuckerberg’s madness.

Last week Instagram officially announced Reels as its official competitor to the global phenomenon that is TikTok. If initiation is the most sincere form of flattery then what Instagram basically married TikTok.

Reels is an almost carbon-copy version of TikTok.

Popular creators, tech gurus, and the average Joe all could see the similarities. Heck, even TikTok saw it.

I am sure Instagram acknowledges this. This is what they do. Facebook itself has really only copied and changed or acquired ideas. Just look at Snapchat stories or Vine videos or Instagram itself, which Facebook bought. If you can’t beat em, create an exact replica of them (or buy them). They at least were willing to change the name from TikTok to Reels whereas, with Snapchat, they blatantly took the name ‘Stories’ straight from Snap Inc.

So the biggest question to ask is: Is this a smart move?

Will the billions that Instagram ultimately expends on Reels be a worthwhile investment or is it a decision that could end up biting them in the dust? Only time will tell and to be but if history shows anything, Instagram is doing what it does best.

No International Politics Involved

One of the biggest reasons why Reels will be successful for Instagram is one of the biggest downfalls of TikTok. Instagram is an American company, owned by Facebook if you were not aware. TikTok on the other hand is owned by ByteDance, the Chinese Tech company.

With this comes two large issues:

Data Privacy. The fact that the Chinese app ByteDance has access to the data of millions of American users is cause for concern because of the relations that America has with China. It is no secret that technology companies use and profit off their user data. That’s why we get that toaster advertisement when we ask Google what the best way to toast bed is. Hint, use butter. To many Americans though, there is a difference between a foreign entity holding data and America itself holding data. Reelsremains safe in this area in that it is owned by a completely American, American company. International Relations: Trump for weeks has threatened to discontinue TikTok from America, following India’s footsteps from a few weeks ago. This would be a tremendous loss for TikTok and its creators. Even if these threats by the US Government remain as just threats, the already warry TikTok creators have begun using their TikTok platforms to develop their social media presence elsewhere. As long as there is a possibility that international challenges may spill into the Technology industry, TikTok remains a liability for its creators.

Reels Remains an Instagram Product

Instagram owns Reels. ByteDance owns TikTok, for now.

With the ramifications of politics seeping into TikTok, more and more companies are looking into purchasing TikTok. Twitter and Microsoft have already shown their interest in making the investment.

Although this would be a great investment for TikTok creators and the app itself as the product would become an American entity, assuming the US Government does not disable the access of TikTok by Americans, TikTok would ultimately become different from what it currently is.

Whether it be Twitter or Microsoft or any other company, they will adapt TikTok to how their platform currently functions, ultimately shifting and changing how TikTok functions. Microsoft has already tried this by looking into developing more professional content within the TikTok space.

What Reels has that TikTok does not is an owner that will not change. This is important for long-term growth. Instagram has introduced the idea and creators from TikTok have already moved to Reels. The only change that is needed now is of the product to become a true competitor of TikTok which Instagram decides on.

Product Development Experience

One of the biggest reasons as to why I believe Reels is something that Instagram will find success in is because they have been in this exact position before.

Instagram saw its market slowly losing its footing with Snapchat introducing Stories. It was an intuitive innovation. Instagram had no way of developing a substitute for it. They could not buy Snapchat. What did they resort to instead? Copy and iterate.

When they first introduced Instagram Stories to the world, it received similar responses to what Reels has received, lots of skepticism and anger.

Instagram knows that so many ideas are simply minor tweaks of already created products. With their stories, Instagram invested heavily in its features and sharing capabilities which essentially destroyed Snap Inc’s market.

Instagram took their idea and ran with it. They developed it, added Artificial Reality, and changed the concept of Stories 180 degrees from what Snapchat originally had.

That is exactly what they plan on doing with Reels.

What’s in Store

Facebook is quickly becoming the social media behemoth they always thought they would be when they acquired Instagram. What started as a simple photo-sharing platform has developed into a multi-media medium that is unparalleled.

Instagram alone has a single photo and multiple photo post capabilities, disappearing photo capabilities in the Stories/Highlights and allow for directly sending posts to individuals/groups, something that TikTok never ceased.

Instagram also now has the trio of video posts, long YouTube-style IGTV posts, and quick, loop videos with Reels. This essentially covers the short, medium, and long length of videos that no other social media platform has developed.

Although Instagram is owned by Facebook, Instagram severely lacks in the text aspect of the platform. Twitter reigns supreme for quick or medium text posts whereas Facebook holds longer text posts as their specialty, albeit this being a declining area of focus.

It will be interesting to see if Instagram remains a media sharing platform or dives into the world of text or audio, with the emergence of podcasts being so prevalent.