Reels has been the point of focus to drive growth and revenue for Meta in the last few quarters. So this move by Instagram to let users download Reels could be a tactic to attract people to watch more content on the platform. In 2021, Instagram stopped promoting content with a TikTok watermark (or any watermark) on videos. Last August, YouTube started including a logo-based watermark on downloaded Shorts - the company’s short video product - to discourage cross-platform sharing. Notably, Instagram has always allowed users to download their own Reels without a watermark from drafts. TikTok uses a similar format to attach a watermark on downloaded videos. While Mosseri didn’t specify if there will be a watermark on the downloaded Reel, the picture posted by him indicates that the downloaded video will show an Instagram logo along with the account name. Plus, public accounts can turn off the ability to download Reels.
Mosseri noted that Reels from only public accounts are eligible for download.
