In the wake of the success of TikTok, especially among younger users, in August 2020 Mark Zuckerberg decided to launch worldwide Reels on Instagram. In this way, the social network has tried to replicate the operation previously conducted successfully with Stories, a video format “inspired” by Snap by Snapchat.
Instagram Reels (this is the name with which the new feature of the social network owned by Mark Zuckerberg is universally recognized) was officially presented by the platform itself as “a new way to create and discover short and funny videos on Instagram”, but it is actually much more than that and the popularity achieved in a few months among users is the most evident proof of it.
Although the similarities with the typical features of TikTok are obvious, the new feature of Instagram also presents its peculiar characteristics. Creating short funny videos with the addition of music or text (and sharing them with your contacts and friends), in fact, is just one of the many creative ideas offered by Instagram Reels to the many users of the platform.
To take advantage of the full potential of this feature recently introduced on Instagram is important to know, in detail, how Instagram Reels works, what are the steps necessary to create and share their Reels on the platform and what features must have a Reel to hope to become viral on the social network.
What is Instagram Reels and how it works
As we already mentioned in the opening of this guide, Instagram Reels was introduced worldwide in August 2020, for both iOS and Android devices, after a testing phase carried out in Brazil.
The focus of this new Instagram feature is represented by the aforementioned Reels, which are nothing more than multi-clip videos of short duration (the initial maximum duration threshold of 15 seconds was later extended by Instagram up to 30 seconds) that you can enrich in post-production with music, text and various visual effects in augmented reality.
You can create Reels on Instagram and share the videos in the “Feed” within your network of friends. Not only that, if you have a public account on the social network, the Reels you create can gain additional visibility thanks to the “Explore” section on the platform. In this way, any Instagram user has the opportunity to become a creator of potentially viral videos on the web.
In the “Explore” section of the social network you can find the Reels that are the most trending. Instagram shows Reels based on what the user has watched, commented on or “liked” and on the accounts he/she follows.
The social platform selects some videos (the so-called “Featured Reel”) based on its own algorithm, in order to propose in the “Explore” tab a series of original content made by a diverse group of creators on a wide range of topics, which can entertain and inspire the community of users. In the event that one of your Reels is selected by Instagram as “Featured” content, you will receive a notification from the social network on your device.
Each Instagram user has the ability to like, comment and share Reels, but not to download them. Instagram, in fact, does not allow the downloading of videos present within its platform. Pertanto, l’unica possibilità per scaricare i Reel da Instagram è quella di rivolgersi a una delle diverse app di terze parti presenti su Internet che offrono questo particolare servizio.
Ora che abbiamo appena visto come vedere i nuovi Reel su Instagram e come interagire con essi, è arrivato il momento di capire, più nel dettaglio, come creare questi particolari video e come fare in modo che diventino virali.
Come si fanno i Reel su Instagram
Per creare un Reel di Instagram è necessario innanzitutto aprire l’applicazione, per poi cliccare sul riquadro col “+” e, quindi, selezionare la voce “Reel”. A quel punto si apre la fotocamera con l’interfaccia dedicata alla nuova feature di Instagram, caratterizzata dal logo con il ciak giallo e rosa e da una serie di pulsanti specifici collegati alle varie funzioni disponibili.
I pulsanti dedicati agli strumenti di editing del video, presenti sulla sinistra della schermata, nello specifico sono:
- Durata, col quale è possibile scegliere se creare un video di 15 o 30 secondi;
- Audio, con cui è possibile associare al Reel una canzone presente nel database di Instagram;
- Velocità, grazie al quale è possibile accelerare o rallentare la velocità del video (e dell’audio);
- Effetti, per aggiungere effetti speciali in realtà aumentata al Reel;
- Ritocca, con cui è possibile apportare ulteriori modifiche al video;
- Timer, per evitare di dover tener premuto il “ciak” per l’intera durata del Reel.
È possibile registrare un video ex novo, sia composto da diverse clip che da un unico piano sequenza, ma si può anche ripescare un filmato già presente all’interno della propria galleria fotografica e inserirlo nel proprio Reel. In questo caso, però, è importante ricordare che la durata massima del Reel è comunque pari a 30 secondi.
Per registrare il Reel, se non si utilizza la funzione “Timer”, è necessario tener premuto il pulsante del ciak. To stop the clip, simply release the button. A progress indicator appears at the top showing how much you have recorded so far. By tapping the left arrow icon, you can review, trim or delete the previously recorded video clip.
Once you are done recording your Instagram Reel, you can trim or delete it via the “Edit Clip” option. If you are satisfied with your work, however, you can publish your Reel but, before that, you can still add stickers, hashtags and text, in the same way as you can do with Stories. The interface, in fact, is the same.
How to share Reels on Instagram
Once you’ve recorded your Reel and added stickers, hashtags and text, it’s time to share the video. In the sharing screen you can save a draft of the Reel, change the cover image, add a caption and hashtags, and finally tag your friends.
If you have a public Instagram account you can post the Reel within your “Feed” but also share it in the “Explore” section, so that it can be seen even by those who are not followers of the account. The use of particular songs, hashtags or special effects favors the circulation of the video in “Explore” because the Reel can appear in specific pages dedicated to them. If you record a video without music, i.e. with the original audio, other users will be able to record Reels with that audio.
Those who have a private Instagram account can publish their Reels in the “Feed”, so that it is visible only to their followers. With this mode, other users can’t share the video with users who aren’t followers, and they don’t have the ability to use the Reel’s audio in their videos. In addition to the traditional “Feed” (from which it can be deleted), the Reel appears in a separate section of the “Feed” dedicated precisely to these particular videos. The section is identified by the clapperboard icon just above the wall.
Apart from the privacy options of your account you can also publish your Reel as a Story and send it in Direct Messages. By doing so, the Reel won’t appear on your profile or on “Explore” and, just like an Instagram Story, it will disappear once the canonical 24 hours have passed.
How to create potentially viral Instagram Reels
Those who intend to make Reels that can go viral and reach a large audience of users should know some guidelines set out specifically by Instagram for its Reels.
La piattaforma, nello specifico, ha messo “nero su bianco” una serie di caratteristiche che devono avere i Reel per avere maggiori possibilità di essere consigliati da Instagram nella sezione “Esplora”:
- devono poter intrattenere un pubblico ampio;
- devono ispirare le persone a creare, magari dando vita a un trend;
- devono avere una musica presa dalla library del social network o un audio originale creato con lo strumento Audio di Reels;
- devono essere registrati in verticale;
- devono rappresentare eventi significativi e rilevanti per la comunità di utenti;
- devono mostrare punti di vista diversi.
Allo stesso modo, Instagram ha anche indicato quali sono i Reel che, tendenzialmente, sono resi meno visibili dalla piattaforma nella sezione “Esplora”. Chi desidera ottenere la massima visibilità con i propri Reel di Instagram dovrebbe quindi evitare di realizzare contenuti con determinate caratteristiche non particolarmente apprezzate dal social network. I Reel non presi in considerazione da Instagram, in particolare, sono:
- i Reel sfocati, con immagini a bassa risoluzione, contenenti bordi, loghi, watermark o dove la maggior parte dell’immagine è coperta da testo;
- i video non originali;
- i Reel che affrontano tematiche politiche o che sono realizzati da personalità o organizzazioni politiche (o per loro conto);
- i video che infrangono le Linee Guida della Community, per esempio inneggiando all’odio o mostrando contenuti grafici violenti, o le Linee Guida sui Consigli di Instagram.