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Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

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Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#91

Post by echevil »

galuggus wrote: post #83
tanilama wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TikTok however is the opposite of WeChat where the interface is dead simple and intuitive. What is Reels immitating here?

The Chinese version of TikTok douyin is also a hybrid of games, shopping, live streams a messenger and instant apps. The ui is far less important than having a captive user base

Douyin is a mix of lots of things but you barely realize that. It has one main surface - the feed. IG on the other hand, feels like several unrelated things stitched together

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#92

Post by justapassenger »

me_me_me wrote: post #48
dleslie wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What lesson would that be? Facebook is hugely successful.

Well yes, but it has limited growth potential. Latest generations are not interested joining it. So in 10 years it will be a dying platform. Kodak didn't die when invented digital cameras, but it was a downhill ride towards inevitable cliff.

> Well yes, but it has limited growth potential.

Absolutely. They just reported their Q2 earnings, and Facebook has 2.7B monthly active users. When you exclude China (where they aren't allowed), people without internet or too old/young, then yes - is growth is limited, largely by size of the human population.

Even if young generations decide not to join, this will be likely most powerful network for decades.

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#94

Post by echevil »

alehul wrote: post #68
OzzyB wrote: post #9

Quoting from the excellent blog post[1] submitted here yesterday[0] that stole my morning workout time: " Instagram is some strange hybrid mix of social and interest graph, and now it’s also a jumble of formats, with a Stories feed relegated to a top bar in the app while the more stagnant and less active original feed continues to run vertically as the default. Messaging is pushed to a separate pane and also served b…

As an American who looks at WeChat and sees a massive, unintuitive jumbled mess, you've explained in this comment how that could possibly be so popular in China! I feel foolish for not having realized that the UX must make perfect sense to everyone who has used WeChat since the days of it being a simple communication app. By that logic, I'm not sure we could say quite yet that Instagram's bundling is a mistake.

WeChat has lots of things hidden behind low impression entrypoints. You can explore them when you want. Its primary features, chat and moments, are dead simple, like WhatsApp. Facebook on the other hand, are mixing lots of stuff into their main feed, making the experience horrible for everyone

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#95

Post by [deleted] »

mrkramer wrote: post #87
snowwrestler wrote: post #38

I still cannot believe that Twitter bought Vine, couldn't figure out what to do with it, shut it down, then had to bring it back as a read-only archive because there was so much popular outcry. At the time, the story was that all these other platforms like Instagram and Snapchat were adopting short videos, so Vine could not compete anymore. But obviously it was possible to compete, since an entirely new service --Tik…

Ever heard of redesign? Vine needed it. TikTok didn't win against Vine because of it was new. It had better UI, UX, better features better strategy overall. Somebody could make new Facebook but people wound't move to it cause Facebook has 15 years head start and gigantic social graph.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#96

Post by whywhywhywhy »

OzzyB wrote: post #9

Quoting from the excellent blog post[1] submitted here yesterday[0] that stole my morning workout time: " Instagram is some strange hybrid mix of social and interest graph, and now it’s also a jumble of formats, with a Stories feed relegated to a top bar in the app while the more stagnant and less active original feed continues to run vertically as the default. Messaging is pushed to a separate pane and also served b…

Spot on. I do get how Reels could eventually be rolled into replacing Discover or even the home feed but the IGTV thing is just bizarre. Yeah let's enter a mode where you start by consuming content 3 seconds long and then suddenly some of it is an hour and you have to hold your phone awkwardly not to touch the screen while you watch it.

Really feels like it belongs more in the feed part than the stories part but I guess no one would watch it then.

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#97

Post by look_lookatme »

TruthSHIFT wrote: post #81
snowwrestler wrote: post #38

I still cannot believe that Twitter bought Vine, couldn't figure out what to do with it, shut it down, then had to bring it back as a read-only archive because there was so much popular outcry. At the time, the story was that all these other platforms like Instagram and Snapchat were adopting short videos, so Vine could not compete anymore. But obviously it was possible to compete, since an entirely new service --Tik…

A crucial feature of new things is that they are often better. Not all new things beat incumbents. Only the good ones win.

It's easier when the incumbent shuts down before the competition even begins...

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#98

Post by throwaway1777 »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #96
OzzyB wrote: post #9

Quoting from the excellent blog post[1] submitted here yesterday[0] that stole my morning workout time: " Instagram is some strange hybrid mix of social and interest graph, and now it’s also a jumble of formats, with a Stories feed relegated to a top bar in the app while the more stagnant and less active original feed continues to run vertically as the default. Messaging is pushed to a separate pane and also served b…

Spot on. I do get how Reels could eventually be rolled into replacing Discover or even the home feed but the IGTV thing is just bizarre. Yeah let's enter a mode where you start by consuming content 3 seconds long and then suddenly some of it is an hour and you have to hold your phone awkwardly not to touch the screen while you watch it. Really feels like it belongs more in the feed part than the stories part but I gu…

IGTV content does show up in the feed also, which kinda proves your point that no one would watch it there.

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#99

Post by Dirlewanger »

3pt14159 wrote: post #74
dleslie wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What lesson would that be? Facebook is hugely successful.

Yes but it is especially uncool and if it stays uncool it will be a future myspace. Instagram is still ok, but even there. It's sliding. But I think Zuck knows this and buys up enough up and comers to probably stay ahead on enough things.

Facebook, and the rest of the FAANG companies, aren't going anywhere. They have too much money and too little oversight. No one stands up to them when they buy out their competitors. We're in the 2nd Gilded Age, and I don't think this one is going to end with the government stepping up to the plate to do something about it like they did 100+ years ago.

Re: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

#100

Post by bigpumpkin »

Firebrand wrote: post #89

Reels’ inclusion in Instagram makes the UI confusing for me. Right now it only feeds me three or four videos that are peppered in my discover feed when I scroll down so I have to swipe up to refresh for more videos: https://imgur.com/a/jDtYbVP Why not have a separate section dedicated to Reels content instead of having it interspersed with photos and regular video posts?

Yeah, I was trying it out too and found it confusing as well.

I think they are trying to make old users suddenly discover reels while flipping through photos, but it feels very messy.

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