Instagram has just given Reels two new features ahead of the impending TikTok ban

In a complete coincidence of timing, Instagram has just announced two new features rolling out to Reels in the US starting today. Here are the details.

TikTok’s availability in the US is officially set to end this weekend. And one of the competitors best suited to benefit from the US ban is Instagram.

Just ahead of what could be a flood of new users, Instagram is rolling out two upgrades to Reels (similar to TikTok’s short-form videos).

Starting in the US, and expanding elsewhere later, Reels now supports the following via Instagram’s communications team:

• Discover what your friends and followers are up to. We’re making it easier to see and interact with the content your friends like (or add a note to) on reels in the top right corner of the Reels tab.
• Start conversations: You’ll also see a reply bar so you can easily start conversations around content you enjoy, giving you even more opportunities for your reels to be seen by people who aren’t following you yet.

As you can see in the image above, Instagram will show the activity of friends and followers on a given reel as you look at it. This makes it much easier to see what your friends are up to.

And you can take things a step further by responding to their activity. So if a given friend likes a wheel, you’ll be able to respond to their like – expanding opportunities for social engagement.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see many more Reels additions in the coming weeks and months if TikTok’s US ban actually goes into effect. From a business standpoint, this is a unique opportunity for Meta that doesn’t come around often.

What do you think of the new Reels features? Which apps do you plan to use more post-TikTok ban? Tell us in the comments.

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