TikTok vs. Reels

Where is the majority of screen time going? One controversial topic in the media today is whether you like watching Reels or TikTok more. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but in order to have one, knowing the differences between the two are necessary for debate. 

So what exactly are Reels? Reels are short, entertaining videos on Instagram– an outlet for expression of creativity and bringing brands to life. These Reels are connected to users accounts, on which they post their Instagram photos. People use Reels to participate in cultural trends, collaborate with the community, and discover new ideas. 

What is TikTok? TikTok hosts a variety of short-form user videos, using genres such as dance, comedy, and education, with durations from 15 seconds to three minutes. TikTok vs. Reels can be argued both ways, but personally TikTok definitely has my screen time increasing the most.

In my opinion, TikTok is more original. Afterall it was published back in 2016 by ByteDance compared to Instagrams fairly new release in 2020– so it’s kinda like Instagram copied TikTok. Plus Instagram provides the bare minimum, you can only do videos that’re up to 15 seconds, when you can make/watch a TikTok that’s up to 3 minutes long. 

It’s already concurred that TikTok beats this copycat, it’s outperformed a number of US based apps that attract younger audiences including Instagram. “In late 2019, TikTok dominated in downloads, beating Instagram by over 238 million users” (Vaynerchuk). TikTok is just something that’ll be hard to beat, and I truly don’t believe that Instagrams reels have what it takes, especially if their users are that far behind.

TikTok is for the people, their apps do more than just allow content creators to make 15 second clips like Reels, they get to express themselves for longer periods of time to get what they have to say out there. When Vine had its downfall, TikTok created programs to incentivize creators to remain on its platform. And last year in August TikTok launched a creator fund that is super special. “The TikTok Creator Fund has launched with $200 million dollars and is open to all creators over 18 years of age, regardless of profession or video content (provided that it aligns with TikTok’s community guidelines)”(Vaynerchuk). It’s just really cool to know creators on TikTok will get paid for doing what they love, and since this app is showing us that they care about their viewers and their content creators it’s hard not to appreciate it.

Besides Reels isn’t original, Instagram just seemed to hop on the trend in hopes of being more successful than the one who started the trend in the first place, and to me it didn’t make a difference at all. So yes in my opinion TikTok wins this debate, there is no beating an app that cares about their audience and their creators, with their own unique and creative platform.