Facebook To Shutter TikTok Lookalike Service Lasso, Continue Rollout Of Reels On Instagram

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read

Click here to read the full article.

Facebook is shuttering an app called Lasso, created as a rival to TikTok, less than two years after its U.S. launch.

The social media giant informed users Wednesday night that Lasso would wind down July 10 even as it pursues a rollout of the Instagram video feature Reels, which could take Lasso’s place. Notifications to users urged them to save the Lasso videos they wanted before then.

More from Deadline

Reels, a standalone short-form video option within Instagram Stories, was presented to users in Brazil last fall and according to reports has since expanded to France and Germany.

Lasso hadn’t gained much traction in the U.S. with fewer than 600,000 downloads, according to Sensor Tower. It was bigger in Latin America, with more than 10 million installs in a dozen countries.

Reels, which like TikTok lets users share punchy short video with music, will have the benefit of being branded with Instagram, which has a billion users.

“We place multiple bets across our family of apps to test and learn how people want to express themselves. One of these tests was Lasso, our stand-alone short-form video app, which we have decided to shut down. We thank everyone who shared their creativity and feedback with us, which we’ll look to incorporate in our other video experiences,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.