Are Instagram Reels The New Tik Tok

So why is Tik Tok so popular?

Tik Tok is a fun place to be and to express yourself through short video clips, lip syncing, dancing, pranking, storytelling & so much more. It is a great platform for people to express who they are, be creative and most importantly have great fun while doing it.

During Covid-19, Tik Tok videos became increasingly more family orientated, which then made the app more accessible for users of all ages. Did you see some of the fantastic videos that Dame Judy Dench created with her grandson? Or how local influencers joined the scene and shared funny and engaging videos with their families like Tadgh Fleming? Tik Tok is a place to have fun, enjoy yourself and have a laugh (even if it is laughing at your own expense!).

You have got to agree that Tik Tok has taken the world by storm. How many times have you listened to the radio and a song has played and you immediately think of a Tik Tok dance trend? I’m sure 70% of us can agree with this (and the other 30% either don’t use Tik Tok or simply don’t want to admit that they’ve been watching Tik Tok videos, am I right?).

So what are Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels are similar to Tik Tok in the sense of offering a place to create a short video clip with tools that include adding text, music, special effects and more. With 45% of Instagram videos being 15 seconds or less, the Vice President of Instagram believes that reels will be a great feature for content creators who want to showcase their videos on Instagram, while not having to post them on their Instagram story or feed if they don’t want to.

So are Instagram Reels the new Tik Tok?

Well, we won’t really know the answer to this question until a couple of months, however if Tik Tok users enjoy using the app and are loyal to that brand, with no real incentive to change to Instagram Reels, I can’t see these users leaving Tik Tok. However, they may decide to use both platforms to grow their content reach and engagement even further. For users who don’t use Tik Tok or ‘think they’re too old for Tik Tok’, Instagram Reels may be more accessible for this market and therefore this new feature may thrive.

Another reason that Instagram Reels may become the new ‘in thing’, is due to Donald Trump recently signing an order to try and ban US residents to do any business with Tik Tok. With the US being such a huge market for Tik Tok, this may be detrimental to this app and therefore work in favour of Instagram Reels. However, it has been known that Microsoft are currently trying to acquire the Tik Tok app in the US, however Microsoft are continuing to work with the US government on a deal for this.

Also, the US currently have another popular app of this type called Triller. Triller is a platform that has been built with creators in mind to create video content, add music, filters, edits and share your video masterpiece within minutes. Just recently, Triller overtook Tik Tok and jumped to the number one app in the App store, however Triller only has 23.8 million downloads in the US, whereas Tik Tok has been downloaded over 175 million times in the United States. With social media constantly changing and growing, we look forward to seeing how Instagram Reels develop over upcoming months and how they materialize against their competition.

Within Walker, we have some Tik Tok lovers and others who are only doing Tik Tok videos ‘for their kids’ (but we know they secretly love it too!). So, are Instagram Reels the new Tik Tok? Only time will tell. Stay social!