What you need to know
- Facebook is testing a new feature that borrows heavily from TikTok.
- Reels is being tested in India, Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
- People can cross-post Reels from Facebook.
Social network Facebook is the latest to borrow from TikTok, with Facebook Reels now being tested in a handful of countries.
Now live in India, Mexico, and Canada, and the United States, Reels are short videos that people will see in their News Feed, according to a report by The Verge. Notably, users can cross-post Reels to Facebook from within Instagram, too. At least, they can during this testing phase — it's possible that facet of the feature will be removed before Reels is live for everyone.
People can watch and create reels from the Facebook app, and the feature is designed to give people a way to "express themselves, discover entertaining content, and to help creators broaden their reach." As justification for the test, Facebook says nearly half of time spent on the app is dedicated to watching videos, and that Reels is growing "especially quickly."
Instagram and Facebook are far from the only ones trying to copy TikTok, of course. YouTube already offers its own version of the same idea and I can't imagine it being the last, either.
TikTok fast became the best iPhone app for people who wanted to watch and share short videos. Those videos have steadily grown in length, but the idea remains the same. So far, more apps copying its features hasn't led to a mass TikTok exodus. Whether that changes in the future, we'll have to wait and see.
