Key Insights: The Difference Between TikTok and Instagram Reels
Join us as we dive deep into the vibrant world of short-form videos! In this episode, we dissect the similarities and differences between TikTok and Instagram Reels.
▶️ If you’d like to better understand how to create short videos for TikTok and how to create Instagram Reels, check out the full webinar: https://technologytherapy.com/tik-tok... ▶️
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🖨️ Transcript 🖨️
So jumping in with our key differences and similarities… and as I was compiling this, you can notice here that there are a lot more similarities than there are differences. And this is sort of due to the fact that Instagram really took a lot of inspiration from TikTok in creating the user interface and the UX (the user experience) on Reels.
So both of these platforms have algorithmic feeds that users scroll vertically, so you're holding your phone vertically and kind of scrolling with your finger up to see the next piece of content. Both feature short-form vertical videos. They both allow for live video streaming. And they have stitch and duet slash remix features. So features where you can either do a side-by-side video reacting to another video on the platform or a video where you'd see the first bit of another user's video, and then you'd go into your own video content.
Both platforms have stories, although they function a little bit differently. And both platforms will also allow for hashtag usage. And both platforms have advertising components, where you can use the short-form video content in advertising on the platform. So a couple of key differences here: with TikTok, all of the content on there is going to be that vertical 9:16 aspect ratio, whereas on Instagram, they support vertical content in Reels and in Stories, but feed posts are going to be square or that 4:5 aspect ratio that are a little bit different in how they appear.
And then video length is also a big difference with TikTok videos and Reels. TikToks have kind of flip flopped a little bit. Currently the maximum is 10 minutes. They had added the 10-minute maximum, taken it away, and then now they've added it back. On Reels the maximum is 90 seconds for a video. And with Instagram -because Instagram and Facebook are both owned by Meta - there is integrated sharing within Instagram to Facebook. Whereas with TikTok you'd have to export the video and then upload it separately.