Instagram is taking a stern stance against recycled TikTok videos populating its Reels section. In the latest guidance for Instagram creators, the photo-sharing platform said it will start limiting the reach of videos that have a watermark/logo or are blurry due to low-resolution. Although Instagram didn’t explicitly mention it, it was quite clear the company was referring to TikToks and the creator’s habits of recycling content.
Instagram says these recycled videos won’t be recommended or promoted as often in the Reels tab. They will remain visible on the creator’s feed and to their followers, but you’ll be less likely to stumble upon them through Reel’s discovery tab from now on.
We heard that low video quality reels (i.e. blurry due to low resolution) or content that is visibly recycled from other apps (i.e. contains logos or watermarks) makes the Reels experience less satisfying. So, we’re making this content less discoverable in places like the Reels tab.
On the most basic level, Reels is nothing but a clone of TikTok. So it’s only natural that Instagram wouldn’t want to have its platform plagued with its rival platform’s content. To that end, Instagram’s decision to suppress these videos can be a good thing in that it will force creators to come up with fresh content that’s tuned for their Instagram audiences rather than simply recycling their TikTok content.
Pro Tip: Remove the watermark from your TikTok videos
However, this change makes the life of content creators a bit difficult as they would be forced to produce two separate videos with the same content for both Instagram and TikTok. Ideally, you should have saved the raw footage before uploading to either platform as that would give you the best quality. But if you have forgotten to do so, or you just prefer creating content directly for TikTok first, it is possible to upload your TikTok videos on Instagram without being penalized by the new algorithms. Since Instagram’s algorithms actively look for the TikTok watermark and logo, you can use a web service like Musically Down (via Matt Navarra) to remove the watermark from your video. To do so, just copy the video link of the TikTok video you want to share on Instagram, paste the link into the URL box of Musically Down and click on the download button below.
The post PSA: Do not upload your own TikToks on Instagram without removing the watermark appeared first on xda-developers.
source https://www.xda-developers.com/psa-do-not-upload-tiktok-instagram-reels-without-removing-watermark/