Instagram wants as many people as possible to use Reels, as it works to counter the rise of TikTok, while also aligning itself with rising usage trends.
On this front, Instagram is currently testing an internal feature called ‘Montage’, which allows users to convert their Instagram Stories frames into short Reels videos.
According to Alessandro Paluzzi, an app researcher, the new process allows you to splice together your Stories frames into a Reels clip.
The first step would display all of your Stories frames in sequence. From there, you’d tell Instagram to automatically create a video by combining elements from each frame, which it would do.
Instagram would then recommend audio to go along with your new Reels clip, which it would automatically sync to the transitions that it’s created, as a final step to the process.
That said, the true utility of this tool lies in the way it actually creates the clips, as well as how it converts elements from your Stories into Reels.
The fact that Instagram wants to combine two features on the one hand, while discouraging the same behavior on the other, is a little odd. The company has been trying to figure out how to stop users from re-sharing regular feed posts to Stories.
With the ‘Re-Share’ Sticker, users can now share feed posts to Stories in a more creative way than before.
For example, Instagram has experimented with completely blocking feed posts from being re-shared to Stories and other options. The platform’s executives have repeatedly noted that while users may be keen on sharing posts to Stories, their audiences may not be.
It’s no secret that Instagram is openly and aggressively seeking new methods of getting people re-sharing their Stories. If this were implemented, users would be annoyed by seeing duplicate content from the profiles they follow.
Even if the content is remixed into the Reels format, it may not be the same. Or, perhaps Instagram is so eager for users to use Reels that it’s willing to risk it all in order to do so.
You can’t tell what’s really going on. In spite of Instagram’s claims, TikTok continues to dominate the download charts, posing a threat to IG’s very existence, especially as younger users begin to gravitate toward TikTok instead of Instagram.
In any case, it’s a win-win for everyone involved. TikTok’s In-app is now available to many Instagram users, preventing them from switching to TikTok and increasing Instagram usage time. There is a method to what appears to be audacious copying on Instagram’s part, and as more users gravitate toward short-form video content on the platform, Instagram should be looking to align itself where it can.
