Instagram Reels is a new in-app function where users can create 15-second short clips that are synced with fully licensed music, audio effects and filters. After a global soft launch in places such as Brazil, Reels launched in the United States in early August and has become wildly popular in many social media circles.

Instagram released Reels because they saw an opportunity to grab TikTok's market share in the United States and beyond. As the regulatory screws tighten around Chinese-owned TikTok, some large platform was bound to release their own equivalent, so Facebook-owned Instagram was a natural fit to eat up this social media market share.