• by Colin Kirkland , September 19, 2022

On Monday, Meta announced a new Facebook Reels application programming interface (API) that allows developers to integrate a “Share to Reels” feature so users can easily share Reels on Facebook pages, bringing greater user-accessibility to short-form video.

In a blog post, Meta said this one-button feature will remove “friction for users previously using 3rd party platforms and then uploading at a later time to Facebook.” 

When developers integrate this feature, users can now use a third-party app to post Reels as well as post to a page that they are an admin of.

The API does not allow apps to post Reels to groups or individual users. 

Meta named three launch partners that have integrated the new Reels API in their platforms, including creator-economy platform Jellysmack, social media management tool Sprout Social, and Wix, a website creation platform. 

The new API is targeted toward content-creation platforms (“for making video editing smart, accessible and collaborative”), social-media management platforms (“to help manage, schedule, and post content”), and large publishers and enterprise creators (“for developing in-house social media management tool linked to Reels”). 

In June, Meta launched a similar API for Instagram Reels.

In August, the company made it possible for users to post Reels from Instagram to Facebook and vice-versa. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is banking on Reels to compete with the continued rise of TikTok. 

The second-quarter 2022 results showed that Instagram users spent 26% of their time on the app watching Reels.