Blink and you might have missed the latest announcement from Twitter. The social media machine Twitter recently acquired ‘Vine’ a very micro (3 people!) start-up video sharing service out of NYC. Talk about striking before the iron is hot… Vine has yet to launch publicly! Now they have at least one, major client. These guys may have just hit the ultimate jackpot, with a product they describe as “the best way to capture and share video on your iPhone.”
It’s a perfect marriage. Millions of users share videos on Twitter from their mobile devices daily (and obsessively!) now Twitter can offer in-house video features that are native to the environment, rather than third party supported. This acquisition is an encouraging step in the right direction for Twitter and helps them
deliver a more seamless experience across various worldwide devices.
What features will Vine offer the video sharing/viewing Twitterverse? Vine is different than the majority of other video apps currently on the market. For example, when you shoot with your smartphone, the camera captures one continuous shot. Vine allows for segmented recording. Grab a few quick snippets of video (a few seconds at the most), and Vine auto-generates a longer cut stitched from those shots. Sound familiar? Twitter operates in 140 characters – quick thoughts and shortened links have become a culturally accepted skill set.
There have long been rumours that Twitter will develop an in-house video client – and this newest acquisition fuels even more speculation that Twitter will soon stop supporting third party video sharing/hosting services. But Twitter doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers with that news just yet. Vine may have instantly gone from zero to hero… and in time may become the only way to host and share videos on Twitter.
The question is – will Vine be able to keep up with the demands of over 500 million Twitter users? We will watch with great interest. This future of this partnership will be of significant importance to marketers and advertisers who have used Twitter as the global vehicle to launch and share video campaigns.
One thing is for sure – Twitter is investing big time in video. This decision more than proves it. Large changes are afoot… but video sharing ain’t going anywhere but up!
