It’s really not, not even close to the same. The algorithm is really, really bad compared to TikTok. You can’t pause videos, can’t download them, can’t use copyrighted music, the comments are awful and full of bullying and hate and anger. It doesn’t have the powerful tools to actually edit your videos. It doesn’t have the community. Instagram reels just feels like a bad copy of TikTok. It’s also not timely; on TikTok you see things as they happen. News arrives instantly. Stitching enables two way conversations. Everything on Instagram is just recycled crap from two weeks ago on TikTok. I only use instagram to talk to people really; the actual content doesn’t do anything for me.

The problem is that Instagram content is so ... fake? manufactured?

There is very little original creator content in there, it's all semi-professional "influencers" doing heavily scripted skits or just plain stolen stuff (vertical versions of TV shows, movies, stand-up sets etc)

The running joke for years is that Instagram Reels is where you go if you want to see last month's viral content from TikTok. In my experience it's true.

The format is the same but not the algorithm or what people are putting on it. I’m not a tok tok user but the few times I’ve been on it they felt surprisingly different. Meta reels are less substantial in content.

I don't know what people here are on about. I use both and they are exactly the same. I don't think TikTok's algorithm is any better.