The social media company announced a guide for the content creators on Tuesday. And the main highlight of it was not using content from other popular apps, like TikTok, for example.
Instagram doesn’t want its users to recycle Tiktok videos on its platform, Reels, which many creators have been doing.
After the ban of TikTok in India, Instagram launched Reels, an equivalent for making short viral videos. Though it picked up momentum very soon, most people still reused their TikTok content on Instagram, which the Facebook-owned company doesn’t favor. Hence, it has decided NOT to promote reels that have a Tiktok watermark on them.
While Instagram will not remove the videos with a watermark, they won’t be promoted or recommended much on Instagram by making changes in the algorithms. Ironically, Instagram wants its users to create “original” content and not recycle old videos made on their Rival app company.
In an email to The Verge, Spokesperson Devi Narasimhan said, “We’re building on what we’ve learned from Explore to recommend fun and entertaining videos in places like the Reels tab and personalize the experience. We are getting better at using ranking signals that help us predict whether people will find a reel entertaining and whether we should recommend it.”
The company recommends the users make videos on Reels and use music and sounds available in the Instagram library.
They even suggested “starting a trend” that others can participate in, like dance crazes, as well as “entertaining” and “fun” content. Reels, mostly covered by text, are blurry, have a watermark or logo, or have a border around them won’t appear in the Explore as frequently.
Tiktok and Reels both have a similar user interface, so it was convenient for many creators to upload the same content. But with this new guideline, it looks like Instagram is going to make the influencers work a little harder.