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Owned by Facebook, Instagram’s short video feature Reels went on floors yesterday at 7:30 PM in India for trial. The new feature allows users to create videos on the app and add creative filters and music. Unlike the usual Instagram Stories, Reels can be shared with a wider audience.
This feature appears to be quite similar to that of TikTok, which recently got banned along with 58 other apps including its likes, namely, Vigo Video, Like, Helo, owing to the recent Indo-China tensions.
Facebook, though, states that launching Reels in India was always on cards. “We also realised that stories are not the only place where they wanted to share these videos as they wanted them to stick on for longer and be distributed beyond their followers,” Vishal Shah, VP of Product Facebook said.
India is the fourth country to get the feature, after Brazil, France and Germany. Instagram has reportedly partnered with prominent music labels to provide a vast collection of songs to make Reels a better experience for the users. It is expected to offer a tough competition to Indian TikTok rivals such as Chingari, Mitron, Moj, and Roposo owing to the fact that Instagram already is a popular platform amongst the youth.
Various popular creators including Ammy Virk, Kusha Kapila, Komal Pandey, Gippy Grewal, RJ Abhinav, Arjun Kanungo, Ankush Bahuguna and Radhika Bangia have been roped in to populate Reels with content. The company has also surfaced hashtags such as #FeelitReelit and #FeelkaroReelkaro that allows users to follow content being posted to Reels.
It is something to rejoice about for many influencers who are commencing from scratch post-TikTok ban in India. Still, in its trial phase, it is yet to see whether the Indian audience familiar with Instagram be able to adapt to the new feature Reels. Links to Reels will also be shareable outside Instagram and has been dedicated with a separate section on the explore page as well.
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