Instagram Reels: Everything You Need To Know

Keeping Up With The Kardashians needs to take a backseat because these days, it’s all about keeping up with Instagram. Bat an eyelid and you’ll miss one of their many recent app updates. They’ve just recently launched their Instagram Reels, which has made the app a creative space where users can create any kind of content they desire. Let’s unpack Reels a little more.

Instagram Reels

If you haven’t yet heard of an Instagram Reel, it’s a new way to create and discover short-form, entertaining videos on Instagram. If it sounds a little familiar, you might have seen it before on TikTok. With President Trump banning TikTok in America and the Indian government banning new downloads of TikTok in India, a space for short-form video content has opened. So far only China and North Korea have banned social media apps like Instagram in their countries, leaving most of the world open to utilise the app. The timing of the release of this feature couldn’t have been better!

This fun, new space allows you to create 15-second clips where you can play around with the audio, effects and new creative tools. If you have a public account, there’s a space for your Reels to be discovered in the ‘Explore’ section as well. Becoming Insta-famous? Easy!

How does it work?

Select Reels at the bottom of your Instagram camera and choose one of the following options to enhance and edit your content with:

• Audio — you can choose a song from the Instagram library or your own audio when you record your Reel.
• AR Effects — there are many to choose from — all we can say is have fun and try them all!
• Timer & Countdown — this is great for when you’re creating a Reel on your own and need to prop your phone up somewhere.
• Align — line up people or objects so that it looks like a seamless transition in your next clip.
• Speed — here you can slow down or speed up your video.

Here is an example of what it looks like when you go in to create a Reel:

Once you’re ready to post, you have the option to share your Reel to your feed as well. Some Reels have a featured label, which means that Instagram has chosen those Reels to help the audience discover content. If your Reel gets featured, you’ll receive a notification. This is where you can find Reels in the explore tab:

Instagram, adapting

Instagram is quickly becoming a one-stop shop; with stories to rival Snapchat, IGTV to rival YouTube and Reels to rival TikTok, you won’t have a reason to leave the app anytime soon. Instagram is adapting very quickly and can offer everything their competition is currently offering in one space. In the fast-paced world we live in today, we know that people are looking for ease and accessibility. Instagram is getting the recipe right.

Bangers & Mash Poll

We weren’t sure how we felt about Instagram’s latest feature, so we asked our followers what they think of the new Reels feature and the results are in:

There’s no telling what Instagram is going to release next, we’re excited to see where the app will be in the future. Don’t miss out on our next article, where we’ll keep you up to date with all things digital. If you’re a little stuck with using Instagram for your business, give Bangers & Mash a shout, we’d be happy to help!