Instagram rolls out TikTok-like features amid uncertainty about rival's future

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Business

Updated 3:17 PM EST, Sun January 19, 2025


New York CNN — Instagram has rolled out a number of updates in recent days that appear to be aimed at attracting TikTok users while the short-video app’s future remains in limbo. And on Sunday, Instagram parent company Meta went one step further and announced the launch of a new video creation app on Sunday called Edits, which bears an uncanny resemblance to CapCut, the app owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance that many creators use to make TikTok videos.

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said on Friday that Instagram’s profile photo grids will now display images as rectangles, rather than the app’s signature squares — a layout that’s notably similar to how profile pages look on TikTok.

On Saturday, Mosseri said Instagram will increase the maximum length for Reels videos from 90 seconds to three minutes — following the lead of TikTok, which began pushing users to post longer videos in 2023. “We’ve historically only allowed reels up to 90 seconds given our focus on short-form video, but we’ve heard the feedback that this is just too short for those who want to share longer stories,” Mosseri said Saturday in an Instagram post.

And on Sunday, in an Instagram video about the new Edits app, Mosseri said, “there is a lot going on in the world right now and no matter what happens, we think it’s our job to create the most compelling creative tools for those of you who make videos for not just Instagram but platforms out there.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/19/tech/instagram-tiktok-features-shutdown/index.html

[live love laugh]

1. Fuck Meta.

[PortTack]

2. Ardent TikTok ppl will never go to anything meta

There are similar platforms currently being developed. Just like twitter, if ruined at the hands of meta, another one will come along

[JoseBalow]

3. Mark Cuban is ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky's AT Protocol

https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/16/mark-cuban-is-ready-to-fund-a-tiktok-alternative-built-on-blueskys-at-protocol/

Entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban is ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky’s AT Protocol, he shared in a TikTok video posted on Wednesday. In anticipation of the coming U.S. TikTok ban, which will go through on Sunday unless paused by the Supreme Court, users have been fleeing to other video platforms, including the Chinese app RedNote. But investors like Cuban see the potential for a more open social web that includes an ecosystem of apps powered by the same technology that today underpins Bluesky’s social network.

The AT Protocol is a newer, open protocol designed for decentralized social media applications. It’s meant to address what some developers thought were shortcomings with the existing decentralized protocol ActivityPub, used by Mastodon and other social services. While Bluesky is the AT Protocol’s flagship app for the time being, there are many other services now being built with the technology.

Consumer demand for open social apps is also in full swing, with Bluesky itself seeing a surge of new signups in the wake of the U.S. presidential elections, growing the network to 27.6+ million users, up from 10 million+ in September. Meanwhile, on Wednesday we broke the news of a coming Bluesky client called Flashes that would focus on images over text.

Cuban says he’d like to see — and back — something that rivals TikTok but is built on the AT Protocol.

[PortTack]

4. I saw that...and it's great! TikTok no doubt is going away. If it doesn't tiktokers won't use it because it will be

Unrecognizable. And…just like the current state of twitter, it will benefit the RW wackos. Those on tiktok don’t want that either.

Just like twitter something will come along, maybe even better.