Instagram Just Made It Easier To Find & Create Reels

On Thursday, Nov. 12, Instagram announced a big update to its homepage. Soon, you'll see a new tab for Reels on your Instagram making it even easier to find and create the platform's TikTok-style videos. Per a blog post from the company, you'll see a new icon for Instagram Reels on your home screen next to tabs that navigate to Instagram's search, your profile, and a new tab for Shop. The tabs to upload content and see your notifications will now be in the top right corner next to the icon for Messenger.

When it first launched on Aug. 5, 2020, Instagram Reels had a home in Explore, similar to IGTV. If you wanted to discover Reels from others', you needed to head to your Explore page where you could browse featured creators and search by hashtag, audio track, or AR effect. Now, you'll be able to access Reels from the new tab on your homepage. The Reels you create will still be collected within tab on your profile.

The new Reels tab, as well as the new Shop tab, are a clear implication of Instagram's focus on these two growing spaces within the platform. Shop, like Reels, used to be accessible through a tab on Instagram's Explore page. Now, you'll be able to scroll through Reels and Shop just as easily as you do your homepage.

Instagram initially released Reels on Aug. 5, 2020, to users in the U.S., along with 49 other countries. A new format for creating and discovering short-form videos had been in the works for over a year, with testing beginning in Brazil in November 2019, Tessa Lyons-Laing, Instagram Director of Product said on a call with reporters on Aug. 3. Reels initially started as a video feature in Stories that lived for 24 hours but evolved into 15-second videos without an expiration after user feedback.

You don't need to download an entirely new app to create or find Reels on Instagram. You'll be able to discover and create Instagram's 15-second videos from the new tab on your homepage. If you've been worried about the possibility of a TikTok ban in the U.S, Reels, which has many similarities, is coming to your feed at the right time.

If you want to create your own video, open your camera and slide from the selection at the bottom to the Reels section. You can then choose from millions of licensed songs in the Facebook library, or create your own audio track. You can add AR effects — Lyons-Laing says the green screen is already a popular one. From here, you can record a new video or upload one that's already on your phone.

You can customize your video with in-app editing tools like adding text to go along with specific segments, a countdown, and Align, which let's you line up different takes.

Like TikTok, you have options for the audience you want on each video you share, though the choices are a bit different. The default setting sends your video to the Reels page if you have a public account, but you can also choose to share it with your Home feed so your followers can see, too. If you have a private Instagram account, you can just share your video with your Home feed. You can also choose to DM it to specific people.

If your video is shared in the Reels tab or on your Home feed, the video will also live on your profile, but if you DM the video it'll only be shared privately and won't live on the Reels tab or in your profile. You can also share your Reel to your Story, in which case it won't appear on the Reels tab or your profile tab, and will expire after 24 hours. And if you get stage fright right before posting, just like you can on TikTok, you're able to save it as a draft for later.