Instagram Just Released A New Video Feature That'll Remind You Of TikTok

Fans of TikTok are probably going to love Instagram's newest feature that takes the best parts of both platforms and combines them. The feature, called Instagram Reels, is being tested in Brazil and allows users to make, edit, and post short-form videos. The best part is that learning how to use Instagram Reels, if it does come to the United States, will be really intuitive for anyone who already uses Instagram Stories.

"We're excited to test Reels, a new Stories format that gives our community a way to create entertaining, short-form videos with music," Robby Stein, the Director of Product at Instagram, said in a statement shared with Bustle. "Instagram Stories has always been a home for expression and we believe this new format has huge potential to enable more creativity for people."

According to Instagram, creating a Reels clip is a piece of cake. You can make one through the Instagram camera, the same way you can choose to take a picture or record a boomerang or video. Then, once you have your reel, you can share it to your Stories like normal, to your Close Friends group or to all of your followers.

Instagram has not established when, exactly, it plans to roll out Reels for users in the United States, if ever. However, the Reels feature is officially available to users in Brazil, so if you have any friends there, you might see them using Reels in their Stories.

According to Instagram, the company decided to test out the feature because it's seen a rise in users uploading short-form videos to their Stories, especially ones with music. And some people are already pointing out similarities between Instagram Reels and other apps like TikTok and Musically. But Stein explained why he doesn't think this should be a concern. Per TechCrunch, he said, “No two products are exactly the same, and at the end of the day, sharing video with music is a pretty universal idea we think everyone might be interested in using. The focus has been on how to make this a unique format for us.”

Stein added that Instagram has an inherent advantage with the competition: “Your friends are already all on Instagram. I think that’s only true of Instagram.”

Instagram hasn't guaranteed a U.S. rollout, to be clear. But it seems pretty likely that users in Brazil are going to enjoy the fun new video feature, which will also let you edit clips. For now though, at least if you live in the U.S., you're going to have to stick with good old-fashioned Instagram Stories to get your video fix on the platform.