President Trump shocked chinese owned TikTok and it’s users this month with an executive order that will ban the mobile app if the company is not purchased by an American company by September 21st. TikTok is the latest social media craze for Gen-Z and millennials and has experienced significant growth during the pandemic.

The growing controversy on this issue has kept famous TikTok creators on edge since rumors started a month ago about a possible ban and many of them have already urged their followers to follow them on Instagram and YouTube to stay connected. 

Instagram just released their own short video sharing tool, called Reels, on their platform last week that is designed to compete with TikTok and the timing couldn’t have been better. Both creators and their followers will probably be relieved to find that Instagram’s Reels will provide the same level of entertainment that TikTok does if the ban ever becomes effective.

With TikTok creators funneling their audience to Instagram in fear of losing their platform and the seemingly imminent censorship of the TikTok app, there couldn’t have been a better time for Instagram to break into the market with a new product. 

Instagram’s Reels is nearly an exact replica of TikTok. Users can upload their own 15 second videos that can be accompanied to songs. Instagram uses their Discover page to showcase Reels where users can access a feed of videos similar to TikTok’s “For You” page. 

After a short review, it is impressive how perfectly Reels has positioned itself as a competitor and possibly a suitable replacement to TikTok if the ban becomes effective. The only problem is that Reels does get lost in the sea of Instagram features like stories, pictures, IGTV, and regular videos. This should be a simple issue for the Facebook owned media giant to solve and it will be exciting to see what will happen in the future as Instagram makes another grab in the social media market space. 

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