Today, most people see Reels as an endless stream of short vertical videos that Instagram serves up one after another. From a social media perspective, it’s a standalone format—short, portrait-oriented videos designed to hold your attention for a few seconds and instantly deliver an emotion, a punchline, or a useful piece of information. According to Instagram’s own stats, Reels rank among the platform’s most important features, and in 2024 they averaged roughly 150 billion views per day—a number that nicely shows just how big a slice of the internet now happens in short-form video.
But the Reels format didn’t appear out of nowhere. It grows out of years of short-video evolution online—from six-second loops on Vine, through Instagram’s early video feature, to TikTok’s explosion. In this article, we’ll look at how Reels actually came to be, what we can consider the “first Reel,” which platform kicked it all off, and what the early rules were compared with today.
Short videos before Reels: Vine, early Instagram videos, and the rise of TikTok
Before we’d even heard the word Reels, the Vine era arrived. Vine was a social network that let people share ultra-short, six-second looping videos. It launched in early 2013 and quickly became massively popular because creators were forced to squeeze an idea, a joke, or a punchline into literally just a few seconds. The short format was perfect for memes, sketches, and editing experiments, and a big part of today’s “Reels” aesthetic comes from there—fast cuts, the looping effect, bold music, and sound.
Instagram itself also played a role. It started as a photo-only app, but as early as June 2013 it added the option to share 15-second videos. Even though those videos weren’t Reels in today’s sense, they showed that users were willing to consume short video content directly in an app where photos had previously dominated. Over time, longer videos, IGTV, and other format experiments followed.
Into this environment came TikTok (and its predecessor Musical.ly), which bet on short vertical videos built around music, filters, and simple editing. TikTok proved that short videos don’t have to be just an add-on—they can be the core of an entire social network. TikTok’s success was the main reason Meta (owner of Instagram and Facebook) decided to create its own short-video format: Reels.
The first “reels”: what was there at the very beginning?
If you’re asking “what was the first Reel and on which platform?”, the answer depends on whether you mean the general concept of a short vertical video, or the specific format actually called Reels. In terms of the idea, Vine was the pioneer—it was the first widely adopted ultra-short video format with a very similar rhythm to today’s Reels or TikTok videos.
But if we stick to the name “Reels,” the first Reels were created on Instagram. In November 2019, Instagram announced it was testing a new feature called Instagram Reels in Brazil. It started as an experiment available in a single country, and later expanded to France and Germany. Testing moved relatively quickly, and on August 5, 2020, Instagram Reels officially launched globally in more than 50 countries, including the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
At the time, Instagram’s official blog introduced Reels as a new way to create 15-second, multi-clip videos with music, effects, and creative tools. The emphasis was on fun, simplicity, and the ability to reach new audiences via a dedicated Reels surface in Explore. So you could say the first “official” Reel in today’s sense emerged on Instagram during this Brazil testing phase—although the single, very first video was never publicly presented as a historic moment, but rather as part of the feature’s gradual rollout.
What the first Instagram Reels looked like—and what they had to meet
In the beginning, Reels were surprisingly simple. Early versions had a maximum length of 15 seconds and were strictly vertical—i.e., a 9:16 aspect ratio, similar to Instagram Stories. For creators, it was a short window in which you had to fit everything—idea, story, punchline, and call to action. That naturally pushed creators toward fast editing, prominent music, and a clear, straightforward point.
In the official announcement, Instagram highlighted several key features: the ability to choose music from Instagram’s music library or use your own audio, use AR effects, adjust video speed, set a timer and countdown, and assemble a Reel from multiple short clips directly in the app. The goal was clear—creators didn’t need professional editing skills; everything could be done in a few steps right in the mobile interface.
Distribution was another limitation. At first, Reels appeared mainly in Explore and on the creator’s profile. Later, a Reels button was added to the app’s bottom navigation bar, and then a dedicated Reels tab on profiles. In the first months, Reels weren’t yet the center of the app—more of an experimental section that Instagram gradually pushed further and further to the forefront.
How the rules of Reels changed: length, format, and features
The most visible change has been video length. Originally, Reels could be up to 15 seconds—matching Instagram’s first short videos from 2013. Later, Instagram raised the limit to 30 seconds to give creators a bit more room, while still keeping the format short and dynamic.
In 2022 came another step: Reels could be recorded up to 90 seconds, enabling more complex tutorials, mini-stories, or educational content. After testing longer videos, in early 2025 Instagram announced it was officially extending the maximum Reels length to three minutes. That brought Reels closer in scope to longer videos on YouTube or TikTok, while still staying in the “short-form” category—videos you watch in one sitting.
Alongside length, creation tools evolved too. While early Reels offered only basic effects, music, and simple edits, today Reels support templates, remixes (i.e., responses to other people’s Reels), collaborative videos, more advanced timelines, and integrations with commerce tools (product tagging, links to an online store). What began as a simple “mini video” has become a fairly sophisticated format spanning everything from entertainment to full-scale marketing.
The way Instagram displays Reels also changed. In the first months, they were a less aggressive part of the feed, but over time they gained a dedicated feed, a main navigation button, and are now one of the primary ways Instagram recommends new content. For creators, that means a well-made Reel has a chance to reach people who don’t follow them—something that wasn’t nearly as common with regular posts in the past.
What a Reel has to meet today (2025) in practice
From a technical standpoint, today’s Reel has to meet a few basic parameters. It’s still a vertical video, optimally in a 9:16 aspect ratio, and it can be up to three minutes long. You can record it directly in the app or upload it from your camera roll, but Instagram tends to favor content that feels “native”—meaning it looks natural for mobile, has no black bars, and doesn’t include other platforms’ watermarks.
Another important condition is copyright for music and audio. Users can use Instagram’s official music library or their own audio, but commercial content often faces stricter rules—especially for brands and paid ads. That’s why most serious creators either work with original audio or with music they’re licensed to use outside the platform.
Finally, there are the “unwritten” rules. They’re not officially in the terms, but they come from practice and the algorithm. A Reel should hook viewers in the first seconds, shouldn’t be unnecessarily blurry or overexposed, text shouldn’t be hidden under the app’s UI elements, and ideally it should have a clear goal—to entertain, teach, inspire, or drive someone to a website or online store. The same format that started as “just another fun feature” is now a fully fledged tool for content creation and marketing.
Reels on other platforms: not just Instagram
Although the term Reels is most strongly associated with Instagram, you’ll find a similar format elsewhere. Meta gradually expanded Reels to Facebook as well, where they function as short vertical videos in a dedicated section and as recommendations within the feed. The concept is the same—short video, vertical format, and an algorithm that decides who sees the clip.
YouTube responded to the trend with YouTube Shorts, and TikTok—the platform that kicked off the short-video boom—still remains one of the strongest players. While the names differ, the logic is very similar: fast, vertical, endlessly scrollable videos that can pull you in for minutes or hours. Today, Reels aren’t just a feature of one app, but a symbol of an entire content type that dominates social media.
Video: A quick practical explanation of Instagram Reels
If you want a simple explanation of how Instagram Reels work and what the interface looks like, you can watch, for example, this video. It’s a short overview that clearly illustrates the basic options for creating and editing Reels.
Summary: from six-second Vine videos to three-minute Reels
When we look at the path from Vine to today’s Reels, it’s clear how quickly the way we consume content has changed. First we learned that even six seconds is enough for a joke or an idea, then came Instagram’s first videos, and finally TikTok’s explosion forced even the biggest platforms to rethink their strategy. Instagram responded by creating its own format, Reels, which in just a few years went from a side feature to one of the pillars of the entire app.
The first Reels were short, simple, and technically quite limited—15 seconds, basic effects, and distribution mainly via Explore. Today we’re talking about three-minute videos with advanced editing, templates, remixes, and the ability to sell products directly through video. Reels have also shifted in terms of content. We’ve moved from simple meme videos and trending dances to mini-documentaries, educational videos, how-tos, and professional brand campaigns.
So, to the question “what was the first Reel and on which platform?” we can answer like this: if we’re talking about the first widely adopted short-video format of a similar kind, it was Vine; but if we mean Reels as a specific format by that name, its home is clearly Instagram, which first tested it in Brazil and rolled it out worldwide in 2020.
Sources
- Instagram – Wikipedia (“Instagram Reels” section) – history, statistics, and the evolution of Reels length
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram - Introducing Instagram Reels – Instagram’s official announcement of the Reels launch
https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/introducing-instagram-reels-announcement - Vine (service) – Wikipedia – the origin and workings of the short-video platform Vine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vine_(service)
Jana
I like turning curiosity into words, and writing articles is my way of capturing ideas before they slip away — and sharing them with anyone who feels like reading.
