O Instagram has made changes in recent days that appear to be aimed at attracting users of the TikTokwhile the future of the short video app remains uncertain.
Adam Mosserihead of the platform owned by , said on Friday (17) that Instagram’s profile photo grids will now will display images as rectanglesrather than the app’s signature squares — a layout remarkably similar to the look of profile pages on .
Not Saturday (18th), Mosseri stated that Instagram will increase the maximum length of Reels videos from 90 seconds to three minutes — following the example of TikTok, which began encouraging users to post longer videos in 2023.
“Historically, we have only allowed videos up to 90 seconds long due to our focus on short videos, but we have heard feedback that this is too short for those who want to share longer stories,” he explained in an Instagram post.
The updates could mark an effort to entice users to spend more time on the platform. on Saturday night (18), hours before a law that was supposed to prohibit it came into force.
But if Instagram was hoping to gain some new users during TikTok’s shutdown, those hopes were quickly dashed. President-elect of the USA, promised this Sunday (19) to issue an executive order to restore access to TikTok, and .
Instagram did not respond to the company’s request for comment. CNN about the changes.
Since gaining popularity in 2020, TikTok has posed a major competitive threat to Instagram — grabbing users’ attention and time and forcing the older app to revamp its algorithm.
Instagram first launched Reels in the United States in August 2020, days after Trump announced plans to ban the short-form video app in the country.
And even if TikTok had been offline for longer, users may not have necessarily turned to Instagram. In the week leading up to the shutdown, other alternatives to TikTok — including another Chinese-owned app called RedNote — rose in popularity, while Instagram downloads saw a relative increase.
