Instagram is making a major change that could force you to be an influencer

ALL OF your Instagram videos may soon be turned into reels automatically.

Meta is reportedly testing a new feature that converts all of your videos into reels, according to a new report by Gizmodo.

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“This is something we’re testing (and have been!) with parts of our global community,” a spokesperson for Meta wrote in an email to Gizmodo.

Meta, Instagram’s parent company, said the change is “part of our efforts to simplify and improve the video experience on Instagram.”

What’s the difference?

Currently, Instagram asks users who share videos if they would like to share a “post” or a Reel.

While posts appear in a user’s main feed, reels appear in a separate feed – similar to TikTok’s interface.

Reels are essentially short-form videos, that capture a viewer’s attention quick.

This type of content is also capped at 60 seconds long and offers a different set of editing tools.

However, now it seems that these two features will function as one.

Here’s what we know

If you’re part of the test group for this new tool, you may get a notification that says “video posts are now shared as reels,” according to Gizmodo

This basically gets rid of the option to share a video with just your followers.

Instead, all videos posted on the app could end up in Instagram’s open Reels, which operates with an algorithm to show users relevant content.

Reels and influencers

Reels are an important tool for influencers, as they can help them to more easily promote branded products by providing a link for purchase.

Many influencers have also seen their follower counts and engagement rates increase with the use of reels.

TikTok is the inspiration

Following TikTok’s astronomical success, many social media platforms have been trying to emulate its features.

Instagram and Snapchat for example, have capped their video content to try to follow in TikTok’s footsteps.

“TikTok’s success is a forcing function on the other social platforms. They can’t ignore the phenomenal growth – it’s so big it may be the future of social,” Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism, said to Wired.

Most recently, Instagram was playing around with the idea of a full-screen home feed – one of the features that have made TikTok famous.

Facebook also launched its TikTok-style short video feature Reels to more than 150 countries, including the UK.

The social media giant’s owner Meta said in February that it was expanding the tool worldwide and adding new editing features.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk