TikTok had a significant advantage over Instagram Reels, with anyone able to download a TikTok video and post it on another social media network. This feature helped attract new users to the platform. As spotted by TechCrunch, Instagram is finally gaining this ability, according to a post by Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri using the new broadcast channels feature.
This feature is currently only available on mobile devices in the US and for public and non-private accounts only. Also, users with public accounts will have a setting option that prevents their Reels from being downloaded. To use the feature, you can tap the “Share” icon for a specific Reel and select “Download”.
An image posted by Mosseri, which you can see at the top, shows that the downloaded Reels will be marked with a watermark containing the Instagram logo and account name, just like TikTok. YouTube has also started watermarking Shorts videos created on the desktop, possibly as a way to draw attention to the short video feature.
Now Instagram seems to be following the same path, probably seeing it as a way to get people to see Reels on other social media networks. Still, it makes no additional effort to host videos from competing platforms on its platform. Meta’s social media platform allows uploading videos from TikTok and other sources, but tweaks to its algorithms have stopped the option to feature competitors’ watermarked videos from 2021.
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