Vine (noun): A mobile application where iPhone and Android users can create six second video clips that can be shared and/or embedded on Twitter and Facebook.
I just downloaded the Vine app to my Samsung Galaxy S3 the other day. Twitter released Vine for Android users on June 3, 2013, about two weeks ago. As an adamant Social Media user, I decided to try the app out.
After making my first three videos, also known as fooling around with random things trying to test out Vine for the first time, I finally made a decent fourth video, if I do say so myself.
Vine vs. Instagram:
When using a Social Media tool like Instagram, for example, a photo can be taken at any time using an iPhone or Android’s already installed camera. The user can then choose to upload the photo to Instagram when it is most convenient. With Vine, users have to take and upload the video using the application.
I was disappointed yesterday when I thought of all the videos I could create with the files I’ve saved to my phone gallery over the past few months: Videos of my cousins blowing out candles, my friends and I dancing silly in Niagara Falls and footage of the orca I saw in the Strait of Georgia. Unless I’m completely clueless, doing this is not yet possible on Vine.
I find myself walking around looking for things to videotape. Earlier this afternoon, for example, I was making a tea for myself. I thought, “A perfect opportunity for a Vine video has now come my way!” I waited there, for my water to boil, so I could get footage of the tea bubbling and then delicately pour it into my mug. Then I looked at my video and was utterly disappointed. It looked so amateurish. It looked so…I have nothing better to do with my day besides videotape myself pouring hot water in a green mug.
But, I Get It:
Regardless of how many times I make videos and immediately delete them, I understand why Vine is cool. Vine is cool for the same reason that we study Egyptian hieroglyphics, Pablo Picasso and the evolution of Disney.
First came paintings, then came photographs and then came the moving image, capturing everyday stills and movements to provide entertainment to the ordinary person.
We use that same logic when we post a Facebook status, Instagram photo, tweet and now Vine video. We want to tell the world, “Hey! Look at what I can do. Look at what I just saw.”
Of course there are certain publishers who lose their filter somewhere between the thought that provoked the post and pressing “Send,” but then there are great Social Media users who know what they’re doing and like to share their creativity.
Is Vine Here to Stay?
Not many details have emerged yet, but Instagram is getting video on June 20. That’s in two days. TechCrunch, a web publication discussing hot topics in technology, products, news, social media and more, describes this move as “the Vine effect.”
It’s difficult to say if Vine will get a pink slip from its current and prospective users. Social Media trends suggest a continuous evolution in platforms for online and mobile users to download and register. MySpace, for example, just launched it’s new look which got my Facebook friends talking about switching back. And then, a few days later, they were still on Facebook, this time using the site’s new hashtag feature.
In my opinion, Social Media platforms are in a tight competition. Not only are there so many different platforms available, but there are also numerous personality types choosing which profiles to create and when.
What do you think will happen with Vine? Do you like the app?
xo
a quarter young 