What’s the point of Instagram reels?

As an (almost) shameless user of Instagram reels, I voluntarily sign up for second-hand TikToks, trickled-down memes from X, and an all-around lack of originality. With videos re-posted from other platforms, often by different users, and clips clipped from longer-form videos to improve virality, Instagram reels often lack necessary, or any, context. Therefore, reels are often more misinformed and click-bait-ridden than their original counterparts.

The development of short-form video apps from Vine to Musical.ly to TikTok has been an interesting one. Research suggests our attention spans are shortening, largely due to the increased production and consumption of online content.

Without the longevity of viral Vines, Musical.ly largely drifted into the internet graveyard without much noise

Vines were limited to six seconds, and the more succinct time restriction meant creators had to rely on their imagination and snappy editing to create memorable videos. Many popular Vine quotes remain present in contemporary internet slang, like “They were roommates” and “What are those?” although constantly quoting Vines isn’t exactly a good substitute for a sense of humour.

Musical.ly was dominated by creators like Baby Ariel and Loren Gray, with videos up to 15 seconds, mostly of lip-syncing or dance videos. Without the longevity of viral Vines, Musical.ly largely drifted into the internet graveyard without much noise, save for the occasional throwback. If I’m the one to remind you of the existence of Sweatshirt by Jacob Sartorius, I apologise.

TikTok was also originally known for dance videos but has since evolved into a wider array of content for a global audience. Since launching, the maximum video length has been gradually increased from 15 seconds to 60 seconds in 2017, to three minutes in 2021. These increases correlated with an increase in the number of users and time spent on the app as TikTok reached one billion users.

In an attempt to compete with long-form video content, like YouTube, TikTok has since increased the maximum video length further. However, the shorter format is still preferable to many users, largely because it’s pushed more by the algorithm. One report highlighted that 50% of TikTok users find videos longer than 60 seconds “stressful”, and a third admitted to watching videos online at double speed. This kind of online content contributes to the hours spent in a day ‘doomscrolling’, with users struggling to remember the content of anything they’ve consumed, and becoming distracted from work and assignments, which I am guilty of.

While TikTok continues to attempt to raise average video length to increase watch time and sell more ads, YouTube and other apps are clearly threatened by the success of its short-form content. The likes of YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, and Facebook reels seek to capture users’ attention and compete with TikTok. With TikTok undoubtedly being the current dominant force in the creation of these videos, these other apps often serve purely as an echo or copycat of the latest viral trends on TikTok.

Deleting TikTok because it’s frying your attention span, and your daily screen time is beginning to mirror your daily awake time is a solid decision

Instagram reels is a pseudo-app, a cornucopia of the Vines that just won’t quit, the Musical.ly creators-turned influencers, and viral TikTok videos from two weeks ago that have just trickled down through Instagram meme pages. It’s clipped out of context videos from YouTube, an almost-funny joke all over X last week, and the Tumblr quote that was popular when you were 14. It’s unoriginal, kind of pointless, and completely addictive.

Frankly, there’s no real competition between Instagram reels and TikTok. Clearly, TikTok is the preferred platform for creators to upload their videos. However, Instagram’s knack for collating the most popular content from every other platform (and producing nothing original of its own), all in one place, has its uses. Deleting TikTok because it’s frying your attention span, and your daily screen time is beginning to mirror your daily awake time is a solid decision which I would recommend. Reels are just right there. And you can’t delete Instagram, because how else would you stay in contact with the people that you kind of know but also haven’t really spoken to since Freshers?

So now, instead of being addicted to TikTok like a degenerate, you just stay in the short form loop through reels. And yes, you may be two weeks behind all the trends, and you may have already seen that TikTok on X last week. Or you may actually be looking at a repost of said Tweet reposting said TikTok, but you still know what’s going on, what’s funny at the moment, and what’s relevant. You’re certainly no Facebook goblin posting something on the family WhatsApp that hasn’t been funny since lockdown.