Is this goodbye for Vine?
Vine, created by Dom Hofmann and Rus Yusupov, was intended to allow users to quickly launch a video from smartphones to share with family and friends. Within a matter of months after launch, it became the most used video-sharing application on the market, and by April 2013 was the most downloaded app within the entire iOS App Store. Vine was a huge success. Similarly, Instagram took the app world by storm, changing the look and feel of pictures across the iOS and Android world. Instagram, however, was designed for picture filtering and editing, only allowing a square-shaped picture similar to old fashioned polaroids. But Instagram’s merge with Facebook, the popular photo app took on new features such as additional filters, zooming, and focusing. The new feature this month is video streaming.
Differences between Instagram and Vine:
1 Time: Instagram now allows a whopping 15 seconds compared to the six Vine allows for their sharing.
2 Loop: Vine will constantly play the on-screen video, while Instagram is “one and done” when it comes to playing time.
3 Shoot: Vine allows the entire screen to be touched for recording, while Instagram has a centralized button.
4 Focus: Why does Instagram use a specific button for shooting? Because the screen can be used to focus. This means foreground and background transitioning for those video savvy users.
5 Stabilize: Instagram wins the stabalizing award, allowing users to opt-in for better quality shoots for shakey hands.
6 Delete: Instagram implemented a feature allowing users to delete. (Much needed!)
7 Filter: And what Instagram would be complete without one of the signature filters? These are available to use for Instagram videos as well.
8 Convenience: Instagram allows you to video within its app, essentially making it an app within an app. Vine, on the other hand, is standalone letting you be that much closer to capturing that golden moment.
Similarities between Instagram and Vine:
One of the biggest and most noticeable features that both apps incorporate is the shoot-pause-reshoot option. This allows a video to show progression, not just an instant period of time.
The Winner?
There are clearly more differences than similarities between these two medias, but which one wins out? It’s all a matter of preference. Depending on what people are looking for in an app, both media will be successful in the smartphone world. In the future we can expect more groundbreaking features to be implemented in both applications, giving the public more reasons to shoot and share!
And what will marketers use? Maybe both. Lululemon was among the first brands to use the new Instagram video. But other brands like Kate Spade, Lowe’s, Urban Outfitters, Lucky Magazine and Nordstrom are using Vine to provide sneek peeks, DIY ideas, new fashions and more in 6-second samplings.
Guest Post by Claire Whorton. An App-Savvy Digital Native living in Nashville, Tennessee.
