Instagram introduces ‘text-to-speech’ feature, voice effects for reels

Instagram is introducing two brand new features for Reels; one offers the ability to turn text-to-speech, and the other allows you to use new voice effects. The Meta-owned Instagram announced the release of the new features through their community page on November 11th.

With the announcement of these new features, Instagram also shared that it wants to help Reels creators to be more inventive with the videos they make. This is being seen as proof that the powerful photo-sharing platform wishes to overtake the popularity of the mega-successful TikTok, which continues to be the number one source for viral video content.

In a recent move to publicize their name change, Meta enlisted popular TikTok stars like Khaby Lame to spread the word. Their decision to look to their competitor’s creators rather than Instagram Reels creators highlighted that Meta influencers have not achieved the same viral success that TikTok stars have.

The new text-to-speech feature allows you to use an artificial voice to read any text that appears in your video and can be accessed via the text tool in the Reels camera. The voice effect feature offers five different voice options that can be added to recorded Reels. The voice options being offered are; announcer, helium, giant, robot, and vocalist. To activate the voice effect feature, users need to open the audio mixer and go to the effects menu, where they will be given the option to add a voice effect to their Reel.

Instagram launched Reels in 2020 and has since founded a bonus program for its creators that fits into Meta’s proposed plan to pay its creators up to 1 billion dollars through 2022. It has been reported that Instagram is offering creators with significant followers bonuses of as much as $35,000 to create Reels.

With their announcement on November 11th, Instagram shared that the new features will be available for iOS and Android users. It remains to be seen whether offering these features will entice people to Reels compared to their successful rival TikTok.