Meta is known for copying competing apps and making their own features. Reels on Instagram is something they copied from TikTok. Instagram Reels have been very popular in India with the absence of TikTok. Now Instagram is testing a new feature that converts all videos posted on the platform to a Reels.
Instagram is now making every video a Reelh/t @ChristinaSBG pic.twitter.com/YLRDhT1nw0June 30, 2022
The screenshot above says “Video posts are now shared as reels”. As it is customized in Instagram tests, the feature will only be available to a selected set of users. If you are part of the test group, you will get a pop-up window showing this message.
It can also be seen from the screenshot that the reels’ video editing tools will be available for normal videos. And if your profile is public, the normal video you post will be shown to the public as a video on Reels. Also, anyone can remix your video like a regular Reels video.
An Instagram spokesperson revealed this to Techcrunch (opens in new tab)“We are testing this feature as part of our efforts to simplify and improve the video experience on Instagram”
It’s unclear whether Instagram plans to make this change widely available or not. If indeed it becomes a permanent change, it presents several challenges for the horizontal videos and the length of the videos.
“We’re not just a square photo-sharing app anymore,” said Instagram boss Adam Mosseri last year (opens in new tab). And Meta revealed that Reels account for over 20% of the time users spend on Instagram.
Additionally, the company merged IGTV videos and in-feed videos into a single video format called Instagram Video. Now it looks like they are merging Instagram Video with Reels. All this means Meta is betting big on Reels, and Instagram would be more of a short video app rather than photos and stories.