There’s a fight for your screen time.
Short form video has completely taken over social media. What began as Vine and later became TikTok has become a feature in many social platforms.
While TikTok made an short form video format the entire function of their app , Instagram Reels has made a space for it within their already existing platform. For many users of the two, the videos they watch serve different purposes on each app. While TikTok is used for disorganized, often “random” entertainment, Reels, some say, is for interests and connection.
Instagram Reels was launched in 2020 as a competitor to TikTok, which was having rapid growth. It used a very similar format with full screen, vertical, short videos. And although Reels were originally criticized for copying TikTok, the feature being placed into a popular app like Instagram which many people have, made it easy for Reels to grow and find success.
According to Vamp’s online blog, early insights showed Instagram’s strategy was working. Sixty-one percent of TikTok users who had tried Instagram Reels said they were spending more time on Instagram, since Reels felt like it was “basically the same as TikTok.” Both platforms now average video views more than one million per video.
Alex Munro, a Williston senior, said that there are different reasons to use the different social media apps. He watches soccer, baking, and cooking videos on one, but on the other he uses for unpredictable content, and has no idea of what he is going to see.
“TikTok is more chaos and random stuff I watch just for the daily hit of dopamine,” he said. “Insta Reels are wild too, but mostly I just watch them for information. I would say I prefer Insta Reels.”
When asked if Instagram Reels was a copy of TikTok, Alex said, “The ‘My Friends’ reels is a great idea and isn’t a copy of TikTok so I think that’s really cool.” He added, “I can watch videos that people I find the same humor as have liked.”
Another senior at Williston, Emmett Gould, prefers TikTok.
“I think TikTok still has better content,” he said. “Reels just feels like Instagram’s attempt to catch up to TikTok, but it doesn’t have quite the same creative space. TikTok is filled with weird, funny stuff, while Instagram is filled with reposted videos.”
Emmett also said that he feels like there are even different cultures between the two apps.
“Reels is okay and all, but it feels like it’s too spotless sometimes,” he said “People and creators try to make everything look perfect, whereas TikTok feels more real, with people posting anything and everything.”
Emmett said he could “easily scroll for like an hour on TikTok without it feeling tiring, but with Reels I get bored fast. The TikTok algorithm might just be better at showing me what I want to see.”
Emmett’s believes there’s a sequence to trends and on which app they appear first.
“TikTok is where all the trends start, while Reels is where the trends are after they’ve already blown up on TikTok. If its something new I would see it on TikTok first for sure.”
