Instagram is already hunting for TikTok users

While TikTok's future is still uncertain, Instagram and its biggest competitors are already poaching TikTok users. Instagram has introduced a series of new features in recent days that strongly resemble TikTok's user experience. Meta, which also owns Instagram, also took things a step further on Sunday by releasing its "Edits" app, whose main functionality is video creation. The only problem is that it resembles the CapCut app from ByteDance (the owner of TikTok), which many creators use to produce TikTok videos.

Instagram's first man, Adam Mosseri, announced on Friday that Instagram profile pictures will now be in a rectangular format rather than the traditional square. Another similarity to how profile pages look on TikTok. On Saturday, Mosseri surprised with another novelty, namely that the popular “Reels” will be able to last longer. The format will change, or rather, be extended from 90 seconds to 3 minutes. Let's remember that TikTok already started encouraging users to publish longer videos in 2023.

"Historical perspectiveyes We allowed reels up to 90 seconds because we were focusing on shorter videos. We got feedback that this was simply not enough for those who wanted to share longer stories.", Mosseri posted on his Instagram. On Sunday, he used the video format to describe the new Edits app. "There's a lot going on in the world, and we think it's our job to create the most engaging tools for all those who want to create videos, not just for Instagram, but also for other platforms on the market.", he said.

As we know, TikTok literally went down for US users on Saturday night, as did the CapCut app. All of the above Instagram updates could be aimed at acquiring new users, possibly those who are now looking for a quick alternative. With tools like the Edits app, it seems like Instagram is trying to keep users on its platform for as long as possible.

If Instagram had hoped to capitalize on TikTok's downtime, those hopes were dashed. Trump issued an order to restore the app on Sunday, and TikTok came back online shortly thereafter. Meta's announcement about the Edits app — which is available in app stores but won't be functional until February — came hours after TikTok was restored for users in the US.

Even if TikTok were to remain offline for a long time, it's not likely that users would turn to Instagram. In the week before the shutdown, other TikTok alternatives, such as another Chinese-owned app called RedNote, saw strong growth, while Instagram downloads only increased slightly.