In the dizzying arms race of social media, Instagram is reportedly considering an important move to gain an advantage: spinning off its short-form video feature, Reels, into a standalone app.
According to The Information, Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is exploring the idea of creating a dedicated platform for Reels, which would allow the company to enhance user experience and engagement while capitalizing on the uncertain future of TikTok in the U.S.
The move — if it comes to fruition — would mark a significant shift in Meta’s strategy. Since its launch in 2020, Reels has been integrated and embedded into Instagram, serving as both a feature and a lifeline for the platform as it sought to retain users in an increasingly competitive and saturated space.
But while Reels has seen moderate success, it has struggled to match TikTok’s cultural cachet and algorithmic precision. By launching a dedicated app for Reels, Meta may be seeking to offer a short video-watching experience similar to TikTok, which remains the dominant platform in this segment. A standalone app could give Reels the room to grow and focus on its own identity somewhat separate from Instagram’s broader ecosystem.
“Reels was the code name at Instagram, but everyone was casually calling the product Stories,” notes author Sarah Frier in her 2020 book No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram. “In a computer-filled conference room called Sharks at Work, with a glass garage door, [Instagram co-founder Kevin]
Systrom and the others would spend hours drawing out various possible versions on whiteboards. They were mostly trying to decide what the simplest solution was.”
For example, during the conceptualization stage before Reels was introduced, the firm realized they didn’t need to launch with the tools Snapchat had, like face masks that used image technology to let people digitally wear cartoon puppy ears or barf rainbows, writes Frier. They reasoned they could add that kind of thing later, she notes.
“In all of its Snapchat copycatting, Facebook was forced to learn, over and over, that just because it had made one world-changing product didn’t mean it could succeed with another, even when that product was a replica of something already popular.”
The decision to potentially spin off Reels comes at a pivotal moment for Meta. TikTok, despite facing regulatory scrutiny and bans in some countries, continues to grow at an astonishing pace, with over a billion active users worldwide. Its algorithm, which serves up an endless stream of hyper-personalized content, has become the gold standard for social media engagement. Meanwhile, Instagram has faced criticism for its somewhat cluttered interface, with users often complaining that the platform has lost its original charm as a photo-sharing app.
A standalone Reels app could address some of these issues by offering a more streamlined experience.
Think about a platform where the entire interface is designed around and based on short-form video, with TikTok-like features such as a “For You” page, advanced editing tools, and seamless integration with music libraries. It could also open up new opportunities for creators, who have long complained about Instagram’s opaque and controversial monetization policies.
But success may be far from guaranteed. Meta has a mixed track record when it comes to spinning off features into separate apps.
Remember IGTV? The standalone video app launched in 2018 with much fanfare but was quietly folded back into Instagram just a few years later.
“As part of our efforts to make video as simple as possible to discover and create, we will no longer be supporting our standalone app for IGTV,” the company stated in a blog post. “Instead, we will focus on having all video on the main Instagram app. We believe that this makes it easier for people to have all of these features and abilities in the main app, and are excited to continue to simplify and improve video in the main Instagram app over the coming months.”
And then came Threads — Meta’s attempt to create a potential X, formerly known as Twitter, competitor — which saw an initial surge in users but has since struggled to maintain momentum.
“Instagram’s team is expert at amplifying the good,” writes Frier. “When it comes to addressing the bad though, employees are concerned the app is thinking in terms of numbers, not people.”
Facebook’s top argument against a breakup is that its “family of apps” evolution will be better for users’ safety, Frier wrote. “If you want to prevent interference in elections, if you want to reduce the spread of hate speech on the platforms, we benefit massively from working together closely,” Frier quotes Instagram head Adam Mosseri as saying.
“But in practice, Instagram-specific problems get attention only after Facebook’s headline issues are addressed first.”
For now, the standalone Reels app remains in the exploratory phase, and Meta has not confirmed any plans to move forward. But if the company does pull the trigger, it could signal a new chapter in the social media rivalry — one where short-form video is no longer just a feature, but could become the main event.
