Launch of Instagram Reels just after TikTok Ban in India: A perfect timing indeed!

Author: Shreya Mishra

Suddenly, on 29th June 2020, Monday evening, the Government of India permanently banned 59 Chinese phone apps, including the most famous video-content sharing app TikTok.

According to the government, these apps were using Indian user data illegally. They were secretly collecting information from the user’s smartphone whenever someone downloaded these apps. It was a matter of concern for India’s national security.

TikTok had a massive Indian user base on its platform. It not only catered to the high-class society like Bollywood and television celebrities or middle-class but also the lower-class society of India. These content creators use to make and put a lot of content on their TikTok handles and use to generate millions of views and likes. This use to encourage them to be more active on this platform.

After this sudden ban on TikTok, many TikTok creators supported the government’s decision while some of them were heartbroken as it had become a very important part of their daily life. It had given sudden fame to many normal people who never thought would gain so many followers by simply creating a video content using the editing tools available on TikTok’s user interface.

Mark Zuckerberg had identified this need of the Indian audience to have a popular video creation app which could give neck-to-neck competition to the standards set by TikTok in terms of the user interface and public engagement in India.

Instead of releasing a whole new app, Mr Zuckerberg launched the Instagram Reels in India. What’s next?

All the social media users including the TikTokers as well as Youtubers went crazy after this new Instagram feature got added on 11th July 2020. Instagram was already famous amongst the Indian young generation and bringing this feature added a cherry on the cake. This reel feature allows Instagram users to create engaging, fun, and short videos using a catalogue of music and user-generated reels media on Instagram. Just like TikTok, Reels also provide options like audio from Instagram Music library, various filters, AR effects and timer.

According to an article published by Indianexpress.com, India is the fourth country, after Brazil, Germany and France where Instagram has launched its reels feature.

Now, not only the TikTokers but also the existing Instagram users are enjoying making these Reels. It was the perfect time to launch this reel feature in India, just after the permanent ban on TikTok.