Instagram’s attempt to crack down on TikTok has cost the platform millions of dollars, countless app updates, and a week-long firestorm involving the world’s most famous people crazy about the direction it was going. And so far, Instagram hasn’t caught up with the company it’s chasing.
An internal metadocument obtained by The Wall Street Journal paints the picture of Instagram wrestling with the court makers as Reels’ involvement falls away. Compared to 197.8 million hours per day users spend on TikTok, Instagram users spend 17.6 million watching Reels — less than a tenth, according to the document titled “Creators x Reels State of the Union 2022.” The report, published in August, said Reels’ engagement had fallen 13.6 percent in the past four weeks, and that “most Reels users have no engagement at all,” the report said. The Wall Street Journal.
A big problem for Instagram is the lack of original content on Reels – almost a third of videos are made somewhere else, with a watermark or something that gives it away, the document being viewed by The Wall Street Journal notes. Recycled TikToks plagued Reels for a while, so much so that Instagram got right out and said it’s lowering reposted content in recommendations. To entice people to create content for Instagram and Facebook, Meta has earmarked $1 billion for creator payouts through the end of the year. The Wall Street Journal.
Meta spokesperson Devi Narasimhan said: The edge that the time spent watching Reels compared to TikToks in the report is outdated and not global, but reflects a “moment-in-time snapshot.”
“We still have work to do, but creators and companies are seeing promising results and our monetization growth is faster than we expected as more people are watching, creating and connecting through Reels than ever before,” said Narasimhan.
As Meta Instagram has increasingly formed on TikTok, users have been revolting. In July, a viral Instagram post imploring the platform to “stop trying to be TikTok,” was reposted by Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian and loved by millions, forcing the platform to respond and undo some of the proposed changes. to make. There is growing dissatisfaction from longtime Instagram creators such as photographers and lawyers, who have expressed frustration at the hard pivot to Reels. The report obtained by The Wall Street Journal says the percentage of Instagram users who believe the company “cares for them” has plummeted in recent years, from 70 percent in 2019 to about 20 percent earlier this summer.
Narasimhan says the figure is inaccurate and does not reflect company data, but has not commented on it.
Whether users like it or not, Meta continues the TikTok validation of Instagram and Facebook. The company is all-in on Reels and users will see more and more recommended content from accounts they don’t follow – let’s hope it hasn’t already appeared on your For You page.