The new Instagram feature will let users record and edit 15-second videos with audio, and will let users add visual effects. Users will be able to share Reels with followers in Instagram in a dedicated section called Reels in Explore, or in the Story feature where posts disappear after 24 hours.

The Reels option will be available in the Instagram app. The company has been testing Reels in Brazil since November and in France, Germany and India since earlier this summer.

Facebook has a long tradition of cloning competitive services. The Instagram “Story” feature, which lets people share photos and videos that expire in 24 hours, is similar to Snapchat. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced tough questioning about the company’s habit of copying rivals before a congressional hearing on July 29.

Facebook earlier launched a TikTok knockoff called Lasso in 2018, but closed that down in July. It also tried services similar to Snapchat called Slingshot and Poke before Instagram Stories caught on. But those were separate apps — it might have more success with a feature built into Instagram.

Reels is debuting in over 50 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Australia and others, as well as officially launching in the test countries — Brazil, France, Germany and India.

A report in AFP states that American billionaires continue to make money while the Covid-19 pandemic destroys tens of millions of jobs in the United States, according to data compiled by two think tanks.

Between March 18 and May 19, the 600 ultra-wealthy Americans saw their fortunes increase by $ 434 billion, an increase of almost 15% in two months, according to these data published by Forbes magazine Thursday.

Containment measures, the closure of restaurants, and shops have boosted online shopping and the need to stay connected via social media.

This has pushed up the value of Amazon, Facebook, and high-tech companies in general.

Between March and May, the fortune of Jeff Bezos (Amazon) increased by more than 30%, and that of Mark Zuckerberg, boss of Facebook, by more than 46%, according to this report by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies Program for Inequality, which compiled data from Forbes.

Since March 16, the beginning of the first containment measures in the United States, the value of the Facebook title has jumped by almost 60%, that of Amazon has increased by 45%, that of Netflix by 46%, that of Apple. 31%.

And that does not seem to stop since the titles Amazon and Facebook reached this week their highest historic level.

Conversely, billionaires in the travel, hotel or retail sector saw their fortunes melt during this same period, these sectors being directly affected by the drastic measures to stem the coronavirus.

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