Instagram has announced that it is testing a new feature to further compete with TikTok.
Through this new component, users will see a full-screen, vertical video when they first open the app, similar to the TikTok experience.
The mockup of this feature shows that the bottom navigation bar that includes the discovery, Reels, shopping, and personal page tabs will stay the same. The area to create a post, switch accounts, and check notifications will also remain in the top right bar.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has gone full force in its quest to best TikTok, which started with the introduction of its Reels feature.
In an earnings call last week, Meta stated that Reels now makes up 20% of user time, while Facebook videos make up 50% of user time.
The reign of TikTok has had a profound impact on the world of social media. Since its emergence a few years ago, other popular platforms like Facebook and even YouTube have introduced new features that replicate the short-form, easily digestible videos of the ByteDance app.