Instagram: Reels is not a TikTok video hub
Instagram's latest guideline for content creators makes clear that they want people to stop posting recycled Tik Tok clips via Reels.
Instagram said it was making changes to the algorithm and how to recommend users to use Reels, after the new short videos feature was flooded with popular Tik Tok videos.
Along with this, it is releasing new best practices via its creators account to provide Instagram users with advice on how to create and promote the most likely viewed content.
The team now recommends that Reels users post vertical videos that use the music in their Instagram library or the sounds they find on Reels.
In addition to entertaining and entertaining content, they also suggest starting a trend that others can participate in.
Depending on the platform, Reels clips that are often covered in text, blur, have a watermark or logo, or have borders around them will not be recommended much.
Company spokeswoman (Devi Narasimhan) said:
We build on what we learned from Explore to recommend fun and entertaining videos in places like the Reels tab, and personalize the experience.
She added
We are getting better at using ranking signals that help us anticipate if people are finding Reels fun and if we should recommend them.
And user surveys show that people have a less satisfying experience when they see recycled content from other apps or it's blurry and low-fidelity, so Instagram is making that content less discoverable in places like the Reels tab.
While these types of videos won't be recommended much on the Reels tab, they are still shown to the user's followers via their profile or in their feed.
Instagram doesn't mention Tik Tok by name, but it's common to watch one Tik Tok video after another while scrolling through Reels, and it's not surprising that these recommendations come six months after the new feature was launched in the US.
The platform may have initially accepted people bringing Tik Tok videos to Instagram, but given that it becomes a popular destination on its own, Instagram needs to make sure that Reels is not just a Tik Tok advertisement.
This could mean more work for content creators, who may have to shift some of their efforts to Reels, rather than focusing on one platform and then distributing the content elsewhere.