tiktok ban, Clash, Instagram Reel 2 minutes read

Tick Tock Tick Tock... This week, President Trump signed an executive order that will effectively ban both Tik Tok and Wechat from operating in the U.S. and it will go into effect just 45 days from the introduction of the executive order. That means that there are only 42 days remaining until Total TikTokolypse! This is because of privacy concerns and potential threats to national security stemming from earlier reports of malicious software behavior & the question of foreign government involvement.

The reaction has ranged wildly on the matter, but some are now asking how the app could truly be "banned," as anyone could download a VPN and use it to mask their access location, pinging it anywhere in the world. Assuming a VPN stays active on the same device while using the app, the ban would be relatively easy to circumvent. Additional obstacles, such as financial and reputational impacts on Tik Tok are now factors to contend with moving forward. Losing the trust of a large percentage of the U.S population as well as market and infrastructural access within the United States could be catastrophic to the brand's continued growth and image.

There might just be an opportunity to prevent the ban from taking effect at all, however. Global tech giant, Microsoft, is entering into negotiations to potentially acquire Tik Tok from its parent company, ByteDance Ltd. This is a widely acceptable compromise that would allow TikTok to continue to operate stateside. The Global Tech Giant, Microsoft, is rooted firmly in the United States' culture and is a universally trusted brand, so an acquisition may be the best solution for all parties, including the public. We will have to wait & see how this plays out, as 45 days does not provide much runway. Either way, this situation should be resolved in September, when the ban fully goes into effect. 

While all of that is still up in the air, there are fresh avenues for your short-form video creation needs. We mentioned Clash in our previous post. It is definitely a viable option, as it offers nearly indistinguishable functionality & a familiar esthetic. At the moment, Clash is in open beta, unfortunately, it is only available to download on IOS devices. Hopefully, we hear something for Android users soon. Until then, Instagram has a brand new offering in the form of Instagram: Reels. Reels is essentially an integrated short-form video creation extension of Instagram itself. It's intuitive and non-obstructive to the other functions of the application. It transitions into and out of Reels seamlessly.

Despite mirroring certain functional aspects of TikTok, it has an original design esthetic, but one that's easily adapted to. It does have one drawback: Video Length. While TikTok gives its users a generous 60 seconds for video creation, Instagram only has an initial offering of 15 seconds. This is something that will be remedied over time, I'm sure, but it is a substantial gap that needs to be bridged soon. Despite its early shortcomings, Reels is an incredibly welcome & highly versatile addition to Instagram's relatively stagnant creation suite. Not only will it provide a haven for TikTokers, but it will also likely introduce many other users to the hyper-creative content that TikTokers are known for.