What is Reels and Should Your Ministry be Using it?
On August 3rd, Facebook just launched Instagram Reels. Reels is a TikTok like feature within the Instagram app that allows you to create short term video and play it on Instagram. This is Facebook’s direct attempt to capitalize on the TikTok uncertainty and hopefully get people to migrate off of TikTok and onto Instagram.
The question is what is Reels and how does it work? Here is a short video on what it is and if your ministry should be using it.
Here are more details about Reels:
Why is this big deal? For starters, it is suppose to be Facebook’s TikTok killer. If the US Government doesn’t officially kill TikTok, Facebook is hoping Reels does. Just like what Facebook did with replicating Stories from Snapchat, it is hoping that Reels will cause TikTok users to come over to Instagram and play on their platform more.
What is the comparison to TikTok? While it is similar in that you can create short form videos, play some music and share some happiness around, Reels is different in that you can only post 15 second clips as opposed to 1 minute long clips on TikTok. In this instance, Reels acts more like the old app “Vine” than something that can compete with TikTok. But it has a lot of the same features and interface as TikTok so anyone familiar with TikTok should be comfortable using Reels.
One key difference with TikTok. Other than the time amount you can upload a video on Reels there is another key difference. Whereas TikTok is best experienced when you record in portrait mode, Instagram uses both portrait and landscape video shots. Now, so does TikTok but it doesn’t format appropriately there. In Reels your landscape video will format to take up the whole screen as if you recorded it in portrait mode. TikTok does not do that and it looks odd.
Should your ministry be on it? Yes and No. As with all great “new” things, you have to evaluate whether or not the time invested is worth it. If a lot of your students are on TikTok and they live there, keep creating content there and maybe trim up a video you do there and post it on Reels. If a lot of your students live on Instagram, then it is definitely worth it to create videos for this platform to seek to engage them more.
Conclusion
Reels is new and people are going to be interested in playing around with it. Will it be a true TikTok killer? Probably not unless the US Government bans TikTok. TikTok is still wildly popular. The reality is it could be a nice complimentary tool to use within the Instagram app and that could help you reach more people for Christ in your ministry. But, the only way to determine whether or not this is for you is by trying it out and experimenting with it. The more you can do that the more you will know if it is right for you. So, take some time to fool around with it and see if you can reach more people for Christ using Reels.
What about you? Are you using Reels yet? If so, how are you feeling about it? Share your thoughts or experiences below or on social media using #ymsidekick when you share.
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