New York
CNN
—
Instagram has made changes in recent days that appear to be aimed at attracting TikTok users while the short-video app’s future remains in limbo.
Adam Mosseri, head of the Meta-owned platform, said on Friday that Instagram’s profile photo grids will now display images as rectangles, rather than the app’s signature squares — a layout that’s notably similar to how profile pages look on TikTok.
And on Saturday, Mosseri said Instagram will increase the maximum length for Reels videos from 90 seconds to three minutes — following the lead of TikTok, which began pushing users to post longer videos in 2023.
“We’ve historically only allowed reels up to 90 seconds given our focus on short-form video, but we’ve heard the feedback that this is just too short for those who want to share longer stories,” Mosseri said Saturday in an Instagram post.
The updates could mark an effort to attract users to spend more time on the platform amid uncertainty over the future of TikTok. TikTok shut down access for US users Saturday night, hours before a law that was set to ban it went into effect.
But if Instagram was hoping it would score some new users during the TikTok shutdown, those hopes were quickly dashed. Trump on Sunday pledged to issue an executive order to restore access to TikTok, and the app appeared to be coming back online soon after.
Instagram did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the changes.
Since it gained popularity in 2020, TikTok has posed a major competitive threat to Instagram — drawing away users’ attention and time and forcing the older app to rework its algorithm. Instagram first launched Reels in the United States in August 2020, days after former- and now incoming-President Donald Trump announced plans to ban TikTok in the country.
And even if TikTok had stayed offline for longer, users may not necessarily have turned to Instagram. In the week leading up to the shutdown, other TikTok alternatives — including another China-owned app called RedNote — surged in popularity, while downloads of Instagram ticked up only slightly.
Article by:Source –
