Instagram is little by little working to make Reels as much of an experience as TikTok, which may or may not be the right road to go down, but regardless, the next way they’ll try is with an Add topics option.
It is a good help to creators and brands who might want to target an audience with their content. When you are posting a reel, you are given a new menu option that will allow you to add topics the same way you would add hashtags to your photos.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said of the move: “When you discover something in your feed that you didn’t follow before, there should be a high bar — you should be delighted to see it. And I don’t think that’s happening enough right now.”
Instagram’s approach to algorithm-based entertainment isn’t quite matching TikTok’s but perhaps that isn’t so bad. Instagram is a different audience from TikTok. One is pretty and polished, the other is gritty and opinionated and funny. Rather than Instagram trying to be TikTok, as has been openly protested before, maybe they should stick to being Instagram.
Ultimately, this change can only be better for brands and affiliates on the platform. Making sure your content gets to the right audience is half the battle in marketing. Anything that makes content more targeted is helpful.
