Here’s the first video kicking off TikTok rival Instagram Reels

Last month, we learned that Instagram is planning to launch its own in-app video platform that rivals TikTok.

Now, Instagram Reels has arrived and has already caused for various new videos to go viral. The immediate popularity of Reels may not be such a good thing for TikTok.

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Reels was designed to challenge TikTok’s growing popularity worldwide. In a new section within the Instagram app, Reels allows users to create and post 15-second videos set to music. Creators have access to a licensed music library similar to what is found on TikTok.

As well, Reels offers a set of editing tools such as a countdown timer and functions to adjust video speeds. This aspect aims to make the feature user friendly and allow creative content to be recorded easily.

On Aug. 5, Instagram Reels officially launched in 50 countries including the United States. Since its launch on Wednesday, the feature is growing rapidly in popularity.

Selena Gomez was one of the first people on Instagram to take advantage of the new feature. She used Reels to promote her forthcoming cooking show on HBO Max called Selena + Chef which airs Aug. 13. Her fridge and freezer tour video has already been viewed over 3.8 million times, one of the most viewed videos on Reels so far.

 

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Fridge & Freezer Tour

A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on

Gomez has broken various Instagram records in the past. In 2016, a photo she posted of herself was liked almost 7 million times. This feat made it the most liked photo ever at that time.

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The launch of Instagram Reels may cause some trouble for TikTok. As of this week, Donald Trump has given Microsoft 45 days to buy the Chinese-owned company in the United States. Otherwise, the president plans to ban it. The ban is over security and privacy concerns for its users.

Since Instagram Reels has basically all of the same functions as TikTok, it’s possible that’s its popularity could eventually outshine TikTok’s. As well, this isn’t the first time Instagram added features taken from other apps. Back in 2016, Instagram added its “Stories” feature which is incredibly similar to SnapChat. The Stories feature was also eventually added to Facebook which owns Instagram.

Since TikTok’s launch, various videos have been ripped from the platform and reposted on Instagram. These actions clearly showed Instagram that its users want this kind of 15-second content. According to Instagram, 45 percent of the videos uploaded to its platform are 15 seconds or less. Now that Reels has launched, there’s no longer a need to rip videos off TikTok and repost them.

With Reels, Instagram hopes to enable “the next generation of content creators.” Since various Reels videos are already earning millions of views, it’s possible that TikTok may lose some of the following it currently has.

Are you still planning to use TikTok or will you try Reels? Let us know in the comments below.