Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, is not enthusiastic about competitor Reels on the TikTok platform. He talked about the format, launched in the United States in August, in an interview with The Vergein Decoder podcast today.
“I’m still not happy with that,” he says. “We are growing both in terms of how much people are sharing and in terms of consumption, but we still have a long way to go. And we have to be honest that TikTok is ahead. “
He went on to say that the team is more focused on “table bets” now, rather than how to differentiate themselves. Specifically, he highlights TikTok’s innovative creative tools, such as filters and effects that stimulate new video meme formats like something Instagram isn’t yet doing on its own, but eventually needs to do.
“I think we have to improve on building more powerful and creative tools that are not necessarily a meme or a kind of moment in a package, but give people who are more creative than us and make content to live the ability to do something that will burst, ”he says.
Instagram is also facing a conflict between its various video formats. Mosseri says that “most people” probably don’t know the difference between the videos posted on Instagram and IGTV, the application format for longer videos that has been around since 2018.
“This is probably a very nuanced distinction to resonate with anyone, so we’re looking at how we can – not just with IGTV, but across Instagram – to simplify and consolidate ideas, because last year we made a lot of new bets,” he says. “I think that this year we have to return to our focus on simplicity and skill.”
This is a totally different tone than when Instagram launched the format and called it “the future of video”. But it shows the rapid success of TikTok, which in 2018 was not fully known in the mainstream culture, but is now a driver of conversations, memes and viral dances. Mosseri suggests that IGTV and Reels, as well as general videos posted on the Instagram grid, need some kind of consolidation and clarity, which makes sense, especially when the app is trying to do everything at once.