Tech giant Facebook leaves no opportunity to slow down its competitors, this time taking TikTok’s signature short-form Reels format to its own app, thus proving once again that its ecosystem is all any user will ever need.
Instagram, one of the popular platforms owned by the company, had been using this celebrated feature for quite some time. Now, users can create and share their IG reels on the main Facebook app as well. The trials for this extension began in March, and have been widely seen as an attempt to mar their extremely popular rival’s growth.
At present, this will only be available in the United States, but as is understood about Facebook’s ambition, this will expand globally soon. The testing had been going in major user bases like India, Mexico, and Canada for a while, where the format is generally well received.
Unsurprisingly, this format is growing onto users quickly, as attention spans fall and the new behaviors set in. Facebook is among many other companies in promoting this type of content, which was popularized first by Vine, and then TikTok.
Snapchat, for instance, spent around one million dollars a day incentivizing content creators to do the same, and Google-owned YouTube will do the same on a $100 million annual budget.
Facebook, being an undisputed leader in any social media segment, had announced a whopping billion dollar plan in this case, even adding an “additional bonus program,” which would definitely motivate creators to switch to their app, despite its decreasing popularity amongst younger demographics.