Meta urges Instagram users to stop sharing TikTok videos to Reels and plans to promote original content made for the platform over found clips
- Meta launched Reels for Instagram focused on 30 second video clips in 2020
- The new update will focus more intently on original content shared to Reels
- This is to remove focus from people sharing clips found on other platforms
- It is all part of a series of moves designed to take on TikTok as a creator platform
Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is urging its users to stop publishing TikTok videos to its Reels short video platform.
It wants to focus on original content, giving creators the tools they need to publish directly to Reels and ‘make sure credit is going to those who deserve it.’
There are a number of new changes planned for the platform, designed to make it creator-focused, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri.
These include letting users assign themselves to a category, such as Photographer or Dancer, and have it show up when they’re tagged in a post.
Instagram is also working on bringing its product tagging to all users, not just influencers and select high-profile people.
Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is urging its users to stop publishing TikTok videos to its Reels short video platform
There are a number of new changes planned for the platform, designed to make it creator-focused, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri
In a Twitter post, Mosseri said Instagram would now focus its algorithm to reward original creators with improved tags and rankings for originality.
‘Creators are so important to the future of Instagram, and we want to make sure that they are successful and get all the credit they deserve,’ he said.
Meta launched Reels in August 2020 in response to the growing dominance of TikTok in the video sharing market. It now works across Instagram and Facebook.
‘People expressing themselves is the heartbeat of Instagram, it is what makes Instagram work,’ said Mosseri in a video about the update.
It wants to focus on original content, giving creators the tools they need to publish directly to Reels and ‘make sure credit is going to those who deserve it’
Enhanced people tags will be one of the big changes, as users will be able to ensure their identity is credited and shown appropriately, Mosseri explained.
But the biggest change is the renewed focus on originality, with Mosseri saying ‘we are going to try and value original content more, particularly compared to re-posted content, so we are going to do more there as well,’ he said.
YOUTUBE AND INSTAGRAM TAKE ON TIKTOK IN BATTLE OF SHORT VIDEO
TikTok is a Chinese-owned social video platform, with users sharing 15-second to ten minute videos.
It has quickly become one of the most dominant social media platforms, especially among brands and celebs.
To catch up, existing platforms including YouTube and Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, have tried creating their own versions.
For Meta they launched Reels in 2020, with similar functionality and cross-posting on Intagram and Facebook.
YouTube has launched Shorts, providing short-form vertical videos in the app and website, alongside existing longer-form videos.
Instagram originally announced plans to de-rank clips that feature watermarks from other video platforms, such as TikTok, in February 2021.
A Meta spokesperson told DailyMail.com at the time: ‘We’re not the only platform to do this, and we’re doing it in an effort to make our recommendations the best experience for our community.’
‘We’re making improvements to how we recommend Reels in places like the Reels tab based on feedback from our community.
‘We’ve learned a lot by surveying our community, and by seeing how people interact with recommended Reels.’
Reels offers users shot-form video editing tools that lets users be creative with 30-second video clips with captions and music.
‘TikTok is light years ahead of Reels,’ said Evan Asano, CEO of influencer marketing agency Mediakix, referring to TikTok’s powerful content recommendation system and the fact that the app is far more focused than Instagram’s.
And those words may have hit Instagram hard, as it seems set on taking TikTok down – at least from its own platform.
‘We heard in research that people have a less satisfying experience when they see content that is recycled from other apps or is blurry and low resolution,’ the Meta spokesperson shared.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously described Reels as ‘our fastest growing content format by far,’ as they expanded them to Facebook and Instagram.
For many, Reels feels more like a TikTok clone, and many of the videos uploaded include the TikTok logo – sometimes from users sharing another video they found, and other times users posting first to TikTok then sharing it to Reels.
Instagram wants to bury these videos in the rankings, highlighting clips uploaded first to Reels.
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