“Reels is already our fastest growing content format by far, and today we’re making it available to everyone on Facebook globally. We want Reels to be the best place for creators to connect with their community and make a living, so we’re launching new monetization tools too. We’re adding creative tools to Facebook Reels like Remix, and the ability to create a Reel from an existing story. We’re also building video clipping tools so that creators who publish live or long-form, recorded videos can test,” said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Meta (yes, Facebook)

Meta has copied TikTok; it is part of the market system.  By having other things within the Meta universe, Reels does not need to be as great as TikTok to thrive. Yes, I have moved to Microsoft OneDrive, cutting off Dropbox, because I want a unified system instead of disparate systems in my laptop. Even if OneDrive is not as great as Dropbox, it is just good enough when combined with other Microsoft products within Microsoft 365. That bundling remains a super appeal in digital businesses.

That is the same playbook here: Reels will thrive because some people will adopt it, and make up with other features within the Meta world.

Meta has a great strategy of not going into the trap of hiring experts. It has a better statistical chance of thriving with the aggregation model it is deploying here. Quibi which has since folded used movie legends to create short videos without knowing that you have more odds of getting a viral video within millions of videos, than within tens of videos, created by experts. The business model of Quibi was poor, as I wrote, and no wonder the company collapsed despite having prominent business leaders in the game. 

Yes, with cloud computing and AI, the probability of getting a hit video compounds in mass-aggregation over a dataset made by few experts. All you need is to look at data and see which video is promising and once identified, soup it up so that everyone will see it. That is virality. Reels will grow even if it is not as great as TikTok.

It is about the power of the business model; Meta is deploying it here.

Meta Rolls Out “Reels” Globally

Meta’s push to pivot products across its social media companies amidst growing competition and regulatory policies threatening its business, is seeing a lift, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Early last month, Zuckerberg announced seven investment priorities for Meta, following a heavy drop in the company’s shares that saw Facebook lose more than $250 billion. The chief executive said that Meta will be focusing on Reels, community messaging, commerce, ads, privacy, AI, and of course the metaverse.

Giving an update on the progress the company has made so far, Zuckerberg wrote on Tuesday that Reels has been made available for creators globally.

“Reels is already our fastest growing content format by far, and today we’re making it available to everyone on Facebook globally. We want Reels to be the best place for creators to connect with their community and make a living, so we’re launching new monetization tools too.

“We’re adding creative tools to Facebook Reels like Remix, and the ability to create a Reel from an existing story. We’re also building video clipping tools so that creators who publish live or long-form, recorded videos can test,” he said.

Last year, Apple began the enforcement of its new privacy policy, the App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which gives iPhone users the choice to disable Facebook’s tracking system, curtailing its ability to curate data for targeted ads. Facebook usually harvest the needed data for its targeted ads by tracking users across the web. In addition, TikTok has seen unprecedented growth globally, especially among young people – which poses a further competitive threat to Meta’s growth. Since 2012, the number of young users on Facebook has been on decline and only users 25 and above have been increasing their use of Facebook, according to internal research from Meta leaked by whistleblower former head of products Frances Haugen.

Zuckerberg said Meta will focus on short videos to counter TikTok’s intimidating growth. TikTok is a short-form video platform that gives users the opportunity to create contents and earn from them, a method Facebook has adopted through Reels.

“To give creators more visibility and reach, they can share their Instagram Reels as recommended content on Facebook. We’re also rolling out Reels in Facebook Watch and letting people share public Reels to Stories,” Zuckerberg said.

In addition to the declining number of Facebook users, Meta is facing the challenge of tightening privacy laws in Europe. The European data privacy watchdog GDPR, has been reviewing its rules targeting big tech companies to tackle growing issues of misuse of private data.

Early February, Meta warned that it would pull out of Europe if a new privacy rule that aims to halt it from transferring consumer data from Europe to the US is approved.

As Russia moves into Eastern Ukraine for its so called “peace keeping”, after recognizing the independence of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the rest of the world is responding with overwhelming reactions.

While the United States and its allies are united in their decision to roll out corresponding sanctions against Russia, other countries have remained indifference while Syria has made its support for Russia known.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden announced the first tranche of sanctions, which targets Russian banks and sovereign debt among others, against Russia, and promised that the US and its allies will respond as necessary if Russia goes further with the invasion.

Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine has for many weeks, become a matter of utmost concern, as the US and Europe take necessary steps to avert a full blown conflict. The conflict has put Russian President Vladimir Putin at the receiving end of global backlash.

However, as world leaders take a swipe at Putin, there is one who thinks his decision to invade Ukraine is a very smart move – his friend, former president of the United States Donald Trump.

In an interview with Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, Trump berated Biden’s handling of the Ukraine crisis and boasted that Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if he were still president, but not before describing Putin’s move as “genius” and calling him “savvy.”

“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, “This is genius.” Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.

“So, Putin is now saying, “It’s independent,” a large section of Ukraine. I said, “How smart is that?” And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s strongest peace force… That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy… I know him very well. Very, very well,” Trump said.

Trump said Biden’s response to the situation in Ukraine is “no response” and pointed at the pull out of American forces from Afghanistan, which he described as disastrous. But he maintained that the situation would have been different if he were the president.

“By the way, this never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened…,” he said. “I knew Putin very well I got along with him great. He liked me. I liked him. I mean, you know, he’s a tough cookie, got a lot of the great charm and a lot of pride. But the way he — and he loves his country, you know? Ye loves his country. He’s acting a little differently I think now.”

“I think he sees this opportunity. I knew that he always wanted Ukraine. I used to talk to him about it. I said, “You can’t do it. You’re not gonna do it.” But I could see that he wanted it. I used to ask him. We used to talk about it at length. I think nobody probably knows him better in terms of the discussions that we have or that we’re having this morning.”

After blaming Biden for the rise in oil price, which he said has leaped significantly from the $40 where he left it, putting a lot of money into Russia’s pocket, Trump said the next invasion will be China invading Taiwan, though they wouldn’t have done it with him as the president.

“I got to know President Xi. By the way, China is gonna be next… Oh, yeah. They’re waiting ’til after the Olympics. Now the Olympics have ended, and look at your stopwatch, right? No, he wants that just like… It’s almost like twin sisters right here because you have one that wants Taiwan, I think, equally badly. Somebody said, “Who wants it more?” I think probably equally badly. But, no, Putin would have never done it, and Xi would have never done it. And also, North Korea has not acted up for four years,” Trump said.