Instagram wants to lure TikTok refugees with new Reels features | Infinium-tech
Earlier today, the US Supreme Court upheld the law under which TikTok will be banned in America if TikTok is not sold by January 19. With the deadline fast approaching and no deal in sight, the app has promised to shut down entirely in the US on Sunday. The law doesn’t actually force this (it only requires Google and Apple to remove TikTok from their app stores).
TikTok’s competitors are apparently very happy with that app’s potential demise in the US, and so today Instagram announced two new features for its TikTok clone, Reels.
You can now search for Reels that your friends are liking or add notes to on the top right corner of the Reels tab. And you’ll also see a reply bar, making it easier to “start conversations about content you’re enjoying,” Instagram says. This will give you “even more opportunities for your Reels to be seen by people who don’t follow you yet”.
You can see how it works in the screenshot above. On any reel, the top right section will show which of your friends interacted with that particular reel. And then you can reply to their activity – so if a friend likes a Reel, you can reply by liking it.
Not at all surprising, these features are rolling out to the US first, and will be coming to other locations at some point in the future.
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