The social media platform’s boss Adam Mosseri is said to have told staff about the possible move this week, the technology industry-focused publication The Information has reported.
The short-form video feature app could be launched as a rival to TikTok, which faces an uncertain future in the United States.
US president Donald Trump granted the Chinese-owned platform a 75-day extension last month to comply with a law signed by his White House predecessor Joe Biden that requires a sale or ban of the site.
The Reels app would be akin to a direct replica of TikTok and would open to a full-screen, scrolling display of short-form videos.
Reels were recently extended to three minutes, meaning there could be enough content to justify a separate app.
Additional content in a dedicated feed could keep users engaged for longer in their own application.
Reels are Meta’s fastest-growing content type across both Facebook and Instagram and are driving more than 200 billion cumulative views per day.
The clips have been boosted by Meta’s move to AI-recommended content, with over half of the posts that users see funnelled to them by the tech giant’s AI system instead or profiles they have selected.
Mosseri has previously noted how reels are driving more engagement than posts on Instagram.
He posted on Threads in 2023: “People are sharing to feeds less, but to stories more and (even photos and videos) in messages even more still.
“On Instagram notes have quickly become a big thing, particularly for young people. So it’s not so much that people are sharing less, but rather than they’re sharing differently.”
