Technology giant Meta is planning to transform Reels, a part of the social media platform Instagram, into a standalone app for short videos to compete with TikTok. The initiative named Project Ray aims at enhancing the user experience by offering Reels as an independent application.

Instagram is set to take significant steps to further highlight Reels, a popular short video format. By introducing Reels as a standalone app, the company intends to improve the user experience. This new project, referred to as “Project Ray,” will feature three-minute videos and provide users with better recommendations. With this move, Meta aims to rival TikTok, known for its popular short videos. Existing Instagram users alongside the standalone Reels app can expect richer and personalized content recommendations.

TARGET: TIKTOK Instagram announced the video editing app named Edits last month, considered as a step to approach TikTok’s video editing tools. Recent developments revolving around Reels could be interpreted as Meta strategizing to seize TikTok’s position in the market. Instagram, which initially started as a photo-sharing platform, now exhibits a mix of photos, videos, and stories in its feed. However, many users feel that videos have dominated the app, resulting in a departure from its original essence.

Experts emphasize that with the implementation of Project Ray, Reels, consisting of popular short videos, could thrive, while Instagram might have the opportunity to highlight its other features.

META’S INFLUENCER STRATEGY Meta is pursuing an aggressive influencer strategy this year to outshine other social media platforms. The company has engaged in special partnerships with content creators from rival platforms like YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok to promote Instagram. Industry leaks suggest that Meta has begun offering substantial sums to influential content creators to solely share content on the Reels platform.

TIKTOK REMAINS MORE POPULAR Though Instagram’s market share surpasses TikTok’s, the latter gains the upper hand in terms of active users and ad revenues. While Instagram boasts 1.6 billion active users, TikTok has reached 1.8 billion active users. TikTok, rapidly growing in the industry, had generated $23 billion solely from ad revenues in 2024.