Name: Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels
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Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

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Illustration: Aïda Amer/AxiosFacebook-owned Instagram on Wednesday launched its answer to the popular karaoke app TikTok, .The big picture: Facebook has a long record — sometimes successful, sometimes not — of adopting features that have proven popular on rival platforms and rolling them out to its billions of users worldwide in an effort to avoid being eclipsed by younger upstarts. Driving the news: Reels enters the fray as TikTok, threatened with a ban by President Trump because of its Chinese ownership, has to be acquired by Microsoft.Be smart: Reels is the first product Instagram has created that focuses more on creators than everyday users. Reels' video distribution algorithm will resemble TikTok's: users will see the most popular videos at the moment, rather than a selection tailored to their individual profile.Details: The new product will be embedded within Instagram, so that the app's 1 billion+ user base can tap into it and help it achieve wide adoption. Between the lines: Reels gives Instagram an opportunity to tap into a new creative community, one that's more focused on talent than the beauty-and-aesthetics topics that dominate Instagram today. What creators like about TikTok is that they can amass huge audiences quickly if their video gains traction. Be smart: Instagram had previously launched a Reels-like product called Lasso, that it later shut down. Executives told reporters on a call Wednesday that it's hard to get a new app to reach mass adoption — hence the reason for making Reels a feature within Instagram.Context: Executives acknowledged that the launch of Reels is timely, given TikTok's future in the U.S., but they say they did not expedite the launch to take advantage of the moment.Yes, but: Instagram is coming somewhat late to the game. Already, are trying to win over TikTok users with similar products. And one of Instagram's biggest rivals, Snapchat, is TikTok-style design for exploring content.What's next: For now, Instagram is focusing on rolling Reels out and getting users to adopt it. Executives say it's not focused on how it will make money with Reels quite yet.TikTok Friday that it was "shocked" by that will ban Americans from dealing with ByteDance, its China-based owner, in 45 days.Why it matters: TikTok argued that Trump's move "risks undermining global businesses' trust in the United States' commitment to the rule of law, which has served as a magnet for investment and spurred decades of American economic growth."President Trump escalated his campaign to claw apart the Chinese and American tech worlds Thursday evening, issuing executive orders that threaten to ban both TikTok and massive global messaging app WeChat.The big picture: Trump's orders come against a backdrop of heightening tension with China, the steady unfolding of a hard "decoupling" between the world's two largest economies, and the Trump campaign's effort to wave a "tough on China" banner.Americans and U.S. companies will be banned from making transactions with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, in 45 days, according to a new executive order President Trump issued Thursday evening.The big picture: Last week Trump announced his intention to ban TikTok but said he'd leave a 45-day period for Microsoft or other U.S.-based suitors to try to close a deal to acquire the popular video-sharing app.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/AxiosFacebook-owned Instagram on Wednesday launched its answer to the popular karaoke app TikTok, .The big picture: Facebook has a long record — sometimes successful, sometimes not — of adopting features that have proven popular on rival platforms and rolling them out to its billions of users worldwide in an effort to avoid being eclipsed by younger upstarts. Driving the news: Reels enters the fray as TikTok, threatened with a ban by President Trump because of its Chinese ownership, has to be acquired by Microsoft.Be smart: Reels is the first product Instagram has...

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Facebook launches its TikTok rival, Instagram Reels

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