As the US sale of TikTok gets entangled in legal issues, nearly nine in 10 users of the Chinese short-video making app in the country said its Facebook-owned rival app called Instagram Reels is basically giving them a similar experience.
Nearly 61 percent of the survey respondents said that they will spend more time on Instagram as a result, reports Forbes, quoting data from social media content company Whistle.
“This strong number for Instagram is driven by the fact that TikTok users who have used Instagram Reels do not think that TikTok is inherently special,” Tommy Walters, research and insights managers at Whistle, was quoted as saying.
Since a TikTok ban was announced, “44 percent of daily or weekly TikTok users have been spending more time on the platform, with only 10 percent reporting spending less time on the platform,” according to the Whistle data.
While 34 percent of TikTok users said they will spend more time on Snapchat, just 10 percent said they will spend more time on Triller, a TikTok competitor, the report said on Monday.
The social media company Triller has reportedly approached ByteDance directly with a $20 billion bid via London-based global investment firm Centricus.
Instagram Reels has become immensely popular with young people.
Another survey showed recently that seven in 10 (18-29 age group) Indians said they would like to use Reels as a platform for video sharing.
Nearly two-thirds of urban Indians (65 percent) said they are likely to turn to alternatives or start using video apps that are either Indian or non-Chinese in origin, according to data provided by YouGov, Internet-based market research and data analytics firm.
Facebook last week rolled out a dedicated tab for Instagram Reels in India. With Reels, one can record and edit 15-second multi-clip videos with audio, effects, and new creative tools.
