When something becomes extremely popular, others will follow, wishing to piggyback its popularity.
Instagram copied Snapchat in the latter's hay day. And this time, when TikTok is considered the gem of the social media sphere, the Meta-owned Instagram is copying the Chinese social media, and adopt its feature to Reels.
And the feature Instagram copied from TikTok, is the ability to add a user comment directly to a video.
With the update, when Instagram users want to comment on a reel they've posted, tapping on the 'reply' button allows them to add a sticker to the comment into a new reel, which the users can then move around or change its color.
This feature is strikingly similar to how TikTok allows its users to do video replies.
Instagram calls this particular feature the 'Reels Visual Replies'.
The feature is meant to help creators reply to comments on their own posts with their own unique style.
In turn, Reels Visual Replies should help Instagram increase engagement on the platform. This is in line with what Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said shortly before this.
He said that Reels has become the primary driver for engagement growth on Instagram, with millions of users around the world are interacting with the short videos on Instagram, sharing them with their friends and family, saving it, or leaving a like or a comment.
In order to keep up with TikTok's massive pace, Instagram still wishes to remain relevant.
By copying one of its rival's most used features, Instagram also tries to remain competitive.
This feature has been in tests for some time, before Instagram is finally rolling it out to all users.
At this time, Reels Visual Replies is limited only to just comments on reels.
Users can not make a Reel based on comments on their photos or other videos, or from comments on other people’s Reels.
We love the communities that creators have built on Instagram.
That’s why we’re excited to launch Reels Visual Replies, a new feature to interact with your audience. You can now reply to comments with Reels and the comment will pop up as a sticker. pic.twitter.com/dA3qj1lAwE— Instagram (@instagram) December 10, 2021
The launch of Reels Visual Replies comes as Instagram has been rolling out several new features and updates.
Instagram has increased the maximum time limit for Reels, reaching the one-minute mark in July. Instagram also started allowing users to “remix” reels, similar to TikTok’s “duet” feature, and it has also added the text-to-speech and voice effect features that have also been popular on TikTok.
Then, Instagram has introduced a new end-of-year “Playback” Stories time capsule feature, which leverages the Stories Archive, so users can customize and select up to 10 stories to share with their followers.
Even if Reels Visual Replies aren’t original, the world of copycats in the digital world is not seen as a crime.
Instagram has been a copycat in the past, and so was Meta's Facebook for more than a few times. WhatsApp is also included.