X rolled out an X video reaction feature on iOS on June 2 where creators can now record a video response to any post directly inside the app, with the original post visible on screen.
The move is designed to keep users on the app. The feature is called React with Video. It sits inside the repost menu and opens a recording window with three layout options: split-screen, picture-in-picture, and green screen.
X’s head of product Nikita Bier said, “Commentary is one of the most important pillars of X. And sometimes the best way to share your thoughts is with video.”
The content that’s been leaving X for years
Back in 2023, then-CEO Linda Yaccarino shared a stat: of the 500 million posts on X every day, 300 million are quote posts and reposts. Most of what happens on X is people reacting to other people’s content, not posting original thoughts.
That behaviour has always had a video version. It just happened somewhere else. A creator finds something viral on X, takes a screenshot, opens Instagram Reels, records a green screen reaction video over it, and posts. The content started on X, whereas the views and followers went to Instagram.
React with Video is X’s attempt to keep that from happening.
A shift for the platform
Creators who already do commentary-style content see the appeal. It removes steps from a workflow many of them have been doing manually for years.
But not everyone is convinced. While Instagram still has better editing tools and its video discovery is more developed, X’s audience came for text. Whether they want to watch reaction videos in their feed is genuinely unclear.
What this could mean for Instagram
A large portion of Instagram Reels content is built on X like commentary on various things like pop culture moments. It tends to start as a tweet and end up as a Reel. In India especially, that is taken as a serious content category.
If creators start reacting natively on X instead of taking that content to Instagram, those views stay on X. This means audiences who currently go to Instagram to watch reactions to X content might follow creators back to the source.
The real question is whether X can surface that content to people who aren’t already following a creator. Instagram’s advantage has always been the distribution. With the React with Video feature, getting people to watch it is a different problem entirely.
