Science & technology

Report: Instagram Planning Standalone Reels App To Challenge TikTok

Published FEB 27 2025

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Above: The Instagram Reels logo. Image credit: Pavlo Gonchar/Contributor/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Spin

Narrative A

The separation of Reels into a dedicated app represents a strategic opportunity to capture TikTok's market share during its regulatory challenges. Meta can also potentially streamline the main Instagram experience and better serve users who prefer a dedicated short-form video platform.

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Narrative B

Splitting Reels from Instagram could fragment the app's user base and potentially devastate Instagram's engagement metrics. Reels currently drives significant traffic and represents the platform's fastest-growing content type, making the move unnecessarily risky for Meta's core business.

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