Meta announces the global rollout of new tools for creators. The new tool would enable creators to create Reels on both Instagram and Facebook without the need to first use TikTok to edit short clips. This handful of new tools the company is introducing will help creators to create more original content easily using Reels, something the team at Meta is really concerned about.
Reel users on Instagram will now be able to import their own audio (at least five seconds long) from their camera roll to their reel video. Reels will now support 90-second videos, and will also be adding interactive “stickers” that support polls, quizzes, and emojis (something like the Instagram Stories). On the list of new releases are also Instagram templates that allow users easily replicate the same pattern of another reel they’ve seen, which can be a contributor to the pace at which meme styles spread virally.
Facebook Reels launched earlier in February on both the iOS and Android apps and is now available for PC desktops with tools available in the site’s “Creator Studio” for users to create and edit videos seamlessly. According to Meta, the Creator Studio will also make it easier to test various formats.
In addition, Creators will now have the ability to cut clips from their favorite live streams into a 60-second clip format. This feature is now available on the desktop as well. Facebook Reels also introduces a feature called SoundSync that will automatically sync videos to the beat of a song of your choice, and also a couple of new audio tools, including voiceovers for videos. Facebook Reels is also supporting text-to-speech within posted videos.
Meta’s rollout of TikTok-like features is quite unsurprising as we have seen the company thread that lane a number of times. The company continues to introduce features that revamp the platform that Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri once described as no longer a “square photo-sharing app.” But it was apparent soon after Reels first became available on Instagram in 2020 that some work was put in in order to build a true competitor. Recently, Instagram confirmed testing support for NFT, a full-screen view of the Instagram feed, and even began testing the removal of its recent tab from hashtag content searches.