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It was an opportunity too good for Meta to ignore: On January 19, TikTok, one of them competitors on social mediait was almost dark across the United States when a new national security law it started working. In the days and weeks before the ban, when millions of Americans were looking for a suitable alternative to TikTok, Meta found ways to promote Instagram and Facebook as a solution. The tech giant made a series of tweaks, rolled out new features, and launched ad campaigns that positioned its platforms — especially its videos, Reels — as direct competitors to TikTok.
Instagram has to push back its in-app purchases in recent years, but on Friday, Meta unveiled a new feature that appears to have been removed directly. TikTok ShopTikTok is the most successful ecommerce platform. In a promotional videoTwo sales developers who work at Meta explained how influencers can now “reveal” the products they are selling in Reels. Instead of putting a link to Amazon or Walmart in the text, they can add a banner directing viewers to click on the item below their videos – just like it works on the TikTok Shop.
Some of Meta’s other efforts were as he said. Before TikTok he stopped working for about 14 hours on Saturday, some people reported that among the last things they saw on the platform were posts sponsored by Instagram. “Unsurprisingly, when TikTok goes down tonight, Meta is flooding my FYP with Instagram ads,” one person said in a Bluesky post, referring to TikTok’s AI-powered For You Page feed. “In my last hour of TikTok I saw an instagram ad,” one person said on Threads.
TikTok’s Ad Library, a transparent tool that allows anyone to track what paid campaigns are running on the platform, shows that Meta ran. twelve videos sponsored by Instagram and Reels in January were viewed by millions of users. But the tool also includes information from a few select countries — mostly in Europe — and doesn’t say what TikTok users may have seen in the United States. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Facebook, several people reported seeing different promotions appearing on their feeds last week, prompting them to link their TikTok accounts to their Facebook page. “Build your presence on all apps by showing your TikTok profile link and how many followers you have on your Facebook page,” one version of the message read.
Considering the timing, “this seems cruel,” one user wrote on the X along with a photo of the sign. “Facebook is driving users by asking us to add our TikTok accounts to our Facebook page,” joked one person.
This information seems to be related to a appearance Meta was launched last month which allows users to display their YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram videos as well as their follower count on Facebook. However, the sign that people say they have seen in recent days only mentions the name of TikTok. This feature makes it possible for fans of creators on other platforms to find and follow them on Facebook.
