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Facebook continues to make a play for TikTok’s crown by gearing up to introduce Instagram Reels to users’ feeds.
With Instagram testing out a new option that could soon see ‘recommended’ Reels end up on parent company Facebook’s news feed and video feature Watch, it’s safe to say that Facebook isn’t keen on playing second fiddle to TikTok in the vertical video space for much longer.
Just last week, we questioned whether the upcoming integration of Snapchat and Twitter could lead to more cross connectivity across social platforms in general. Though it was once beneficial keeping respective user bases in-house, it seemed feasible to suggest that the chief social networks were starting to embrace the notion of sharing content across apps as the norm.
This latest news all but leaves that theory on the scrapheap, however. Facebook is already embroiled in a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit for allegedly embarking on a ‘systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly,’ centred on the acquisitions and subsequent divestment of both Insta and WhatsApp – In laymen’s terms, essentially neutralising industry competitors by way of buying them out.
Whether or not Facebook is in-fact striving for total dominance of the social advertising market, the integration of Reels on Facebook Watch and its own news feed would definitely represent a creative upgrade for all in-house users.
It’s not lost on us though (and definitely not on Facebook) that this move could potentially lure creators away from TikTok, undoubtedly the head of the monopoly where vertical video is concerned. With 3.2 billion monthly active users across its family of apps, Facebook’s overall audience reach dwarfs that of its rivals – YouTube being the only other platform outside of WeChat with more than a billion to its name. While TikTok isn’t in the same ballpark in that regard, it does boast the title of 2020’s most downloaded app and you can bet Facebook is eager to nab a slice of that engagement.
With an already huge global influence, Facebook is able to create internal versions of whole rival platforms, which will often zero in to fill an absence in the market. For instance, you may recall that moments after India banned TikTok this year, Facebook announced the launch of Reels in the province in an attempt to hoover up as many orphaned users as possible. Similarly, a failed attempt at a Snapchat takeover in 2014 swiftly prompted Facebook to roll out its iteration of Snapchat Stories on Instagram.
#Instagram is working on the possibility of recommending a Reel on #Facebook 👀 pic.twitter.com/vWvqaNNNDD
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) December 5, 2020
The line between ‘anti-competitive’ and ‘logical business practice’ is one frequently toed by Facebook, but FAC enquiries have done little slow its desire for growth regardless. The Reels to Facebook update isn’t set in stone just yet, but given the social network’s history of striking while the iron is hot, a rollout in early 2021 certainly feels like a pretty safe bet.
