Instagram adds more tools to its Reels arsenal

According to Instagram, using Reels can significantly increase the number of your followers on the platform. The social media says that, during a 60-day period, public accounts with over 10,000 followers that uploaded at least five Reels got more followers than those in the same category who did not post Reels at all. And, to help you make even more amazing short videos, Instagram announced that it is adding some new features to its Reels.

You can now add sound effects to your Instagram short videos. As the social media shared, you can use its refreshed collection of sound effects to "inject humor" into a Reel or "help your audience get into their emotions while watching one." Furthermore, if the video is at least five seconds long, you can now record your voice-over and add the recording to your Reel. However, Instagram warns that others could use the sound bite as well, so take that in mind if you decide to record your voice.

The social media also announced that you can now use some of the Stories stickers in your Reels. You can now add:

• Polls to let your followers vote on a subject
• Quiz which lets you, as Instagram said, "put your audience's skills to the test"
• Emoji Slider that lets your followers show how they feel about something

With this update, Instagram has also extended the length of its short videos. You can now "tell deeper stories with 90-second Reels." And to make it even easier for you to fill these 90 seconds, Instagram now lets you use templates to create a Reel by using another one. The app "pre-loads the audio and clip placeholders," and all you have to do is "add and trim your unique clips."