I've steered clear of TikTok so I can avoid yet another addictive app on my – Business – Insider

I’ve purposefully steered clear of TikTok to avoid its addictive algorithm. But Instagram copied the popular video-sharing app in August 2020, sucking me in instead. My Reels obsession proves that the social media giant copying TikTok worked: I spend more time on the app. Loading Something is loading. I’ve avoided downloading TikTok because I didn’t want another social media app on my phone that I know I would get addicted to.I already absentmindedly spend hours peruse Instagram for palate-cleansing content, and lately, I’ve specifically taken to scrolling through the Explore tab on the app, where videos appear in an elongated rectangle, much like on TikTok.Without noticing it, an hour had passed as I scrolled through the suggested videos that Instagram’s algorithm spat at me. And now, there’s an entire button devoted only to Reels at the bottom of the screen.But my obsession with Reels proves that the TikTok copycat — rolled out in August 2020 — has gotten me as addicted as I would have been had I actually downloaded TikTok. And the result? I’ve spent more time on the app, an average of an hour a day according to Instagram.Instagram is swarming with TikTok videosThe thing about Instagram Reels is that…
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