As TikTok navigates its U.S. ban, Instagram has seized the moment with the launch of “Edits,” a new video-editing app. The app was announced Sunday and closely rivals ByteDance’s CapCut, which provides creators with advanced editing tools to craft videos for multiple platforms, not just Instagram.
Launch It coincided with TikTok, CapCut, and Lemon8 temporarily going dark as a federal law banning TikTok took effect. TikTok later resumed operations after President-elect Donald Trump signaled plans to delay the ban through executive order.
No matter what happens, it’s our job to provide the best creative tools for video creators,” the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, wrote in a post. Edits aim to assist creators with video editing, save ideas for other projects, and publish them to any platform – be it Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok.
Instagram’s parent company, Meta, appears prepared to absorb TikTok’s user base. Recent updates to Instagram’s layout, adopting a vertical content format reminiscent of TikTok, signal Meta’s readiness for potential platform migration. Additionally, Reels, Instagram’s answer to TikTok’s short-form videos, has become one of the platform’s most popular features.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, recently commented publicly about the opportunity the challenges facing TikTok might offer American tech firms. Internally, Meta is investing in these shifts in user behavior and interest from advertisers. According to a recent survey by TD Cowen, 29% of internet users in the United States said they would move to Instagram Reels if TikTok were banned, followed closely by YouTube Shorts at 23%.
In a survey of advertisers, Instagram had a unique edge. More than half of surveyed ad buyers said their clients wanted to advertise on Reels, compared with 24% on YouTube Shorts and 20% on TikTok.
The application Edits is preordered at the Apple App Store with a promised early February launch in Android. Through this development, Instagram, further focusing on its creators, brings the platform yet another notch to capture an even sizeable portion of the short-form video market challenging TikTok’s domination in that realm.
