- Instagram Reels dominates user engagement, with 78% of US users accessing it monthly.
- Reels’ popularity leads to decreased TikTok usage.
- Globally, Reels surpasses TikTok and Netflix in monthly usage rankings.
Reels, the new king of user engagement
Instagram’s short-form video feature, Reels, launched in 2020, has emerged as a strong contender against TikTok for users’ attention.
According to a Morgan Stanley survey of around 2,000 US-based consumers over the age of 16, 37% of Instagram users now engage Reels daily, and 78% use it monthly.
The study also found that increased engagement on Reels is leading to reduced TikTok usage, 26% of Reels users are not opening TikTok at all, up from 20% in September 2023.
TikTok and Netflix, watch out!
Research company Omdia discovered that Instagram’s short-video takeover is not limited to the US but is happening globally. In countries like the UK, Japan, and Brazil, Instagram climbed above TikTok in the rankings of the top 10 video services based on monthly usage.
In the US and Brazil, Reels ranked No. 1, while TikTok was No. 4. In markets such as Spain, Reels even surpassed traditional streaming platforms like Netflix.
Omdia’s senior research director of media and entertainment, Maria Rua Aguete, stated, “Instagram’s rise in popularity is a testament to the evolving nature of viewer engagement and the increasing demand for short-form, visually appealing content.
We are witnessing a transformative period in how people consume video content.”
