TikTok is paving the way when it comes to fun and engaging features on social media apps: after the massive success of its ‘Duels’ feature – which allows creators to duet each other’s videos – other social media platforms are trying to bandwagon onto the trend: Instagram is currently testing out a ‘Remix’ feature – which also allows creators to duet and interact with each other’s content. The ‘Remix’ option is currently only available to select users – who can view the option in the menu bar while creating their own reel.
The feature was initially spotted by Alessandro Paluzzi last year: he noticed changes to the Instagram Reels code and shared screenshots of it to Twitter: he noted that the ‘Remix’ features functionality was quite similar to TikTok ‘Duets’. He also revealed that Instagram is giving its users permission to download other user reels – with creators able to disable video remixing in their settings.
#Instagram is working on #Reels Remix, the possibility of creating a Reel using another user's Reel pic.twitter.com/4ArhMxQfly
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) October 9, 2020
The feature was recently spotted by Twitter user Valerio and also shared by popular social media consultant Matt Navarra:
Instagram is now testing its ‘Remix’ feature for Reels publicly
It’s basically Instagram’s copy of TikTok’s ‘Stitch’ feature
h/t @riodevale pic.twitter.com/fN7XdAn58W
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) March 26, 2021
The new ‘Duels’ feature will put Instagram in a competitive position against TikTok and will provide additional opportunities for brands and content creators to create interactive content and to better engage with their audiences. Instagram has not publicly announced when the feature will move from its beta testing phase; however, we’d expect to see an announcement on it’s release date in the very near future.