Twitter’s Vine app for short viral videos was a real first as iOS apps go, but is it still first in the battle for fans against Facebook owned Instagram Video?
Created by Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll in June 2012, Vine was snapped up by Twitter within four months. Vine continues to capture the imaginations of the public and businesses alike over a year later.
2013 has seen Vine develop by adding the re-vining feature, video editing and saved sessions. By August this year, 40 Million users were videoing their cats, workmates and various slapstick filled happenings.
Instagram started life as the app that took your mobile snaps and worked its magic to make them look more dramatic, colourful, aged or if needed, surreal. It was only when Instagram’s owner, Facebook, decided to rival Vine by adding a new video feature (or Instavid as it’s often known) in June 2013. It offered the same chance for everyone to create extra short movies but with 9 whole extra seconds to play with. 5 million videos were uploaded in the first 24 hours of service.
Vine’s 6 second limit ups the game. Literally, every second counts. You could see it as quality over quantity, forcing you to be extra creative. But it’s clear that there are millions of people being equally expressive with Instagram’s 15 seconds of fun.
Many businesses have struggled with 6 seconds, preferring the more flexible 15 second opportunity to represent their brand. For those using the apps just for fun, there seems to be endless ways to enjoy both Vine and Instavideo.
Averaged out across the many awards, charts and lists of best Android, Windows and iOS apps, Vine and Instragram regularly top the bill, so it seems even the journalists and gurus find it hard to split the two out overall.
In true Harry Hill tradition, it would appear that there is only one way to find out who reigns supreme….FIGHT! And voting site Vine vs Instagram hosts it’s very own battle between our two rivals. Pulled at random from both platforms, two clips are pitched against each other with a voting button supplied for fans to say which is best.
Like the rivalry between Apple and Android, loyalties towards each of the competing apps are very strong amongst fans. As Vine was the initial creator of the mobile video short, people who had their first experience of the 6 second clip extravaganza via the Vine app won’t help but feel a touch of nostalgic fondess for Facebook’s video short revolution. Whereas loyal Instagram users are arguably more likely to have lapped up the new video functionality, remaining firm advocates of the platform from then on.
Haven’t tried either yet? Where have you been? Millions of seconds of fun await!
Here are some links to get you started.
