The Ins and Outs of Vine
The Ins and Outs of Vine

by Susan Marque

If you are not on Vine yet, your kids, nieces and nephews probably are.

I finally downloaded the popular video-sharing app, to see what’s made it stick around as one of the top social networks. Here are the basics.

What’s on Vine?

To get a sense of the app, watch Vines (no log in necessary). The first thing you’ll notice is that Vine is basically a video-sharing platform set up like Twitter (which acquired it). On Vine, all of the super short videos — just six seconds — play on a loop. The fun of Vine is how easy it is to consume visual content by simply scrolling down, or by exploring the various channels like food, pets, art, comedy, sports, etc.

Most videos are attempting humor, showcasing a special talent or highlighting something kind of cool.

What can you do?

Perhaps what has made it most popular is that you can create your own videos, right in the app, by just holding down a green button at the bottom of your screen. Or you can import a video you made with your camera, and choose the six seconds you wish to display on the site. Since Vine’s payoff is getting higher loop counts, there is a built-in desire to build a large following and become the next Vine star.

It could also be a great platform to advertise a product by doing a series of these ultra short stories.

What should you consider?

The most noticeable difference between Vine and other social media platforms is that there isn’t a way to filter content for age appropriateness. This means your preteen or teen could potentially see inappropriate content, or post essentially anything. (Vine had a little problem with explicit content early on, and has tried to make it more difficult to see.) You can use the privacy settings panel to allow your Vine videos to only be seen by people who you let follow your account.

Overall, you may want to monitor who your kids are connected to on Vine. If someone is harassing them, you can block an account, which according to Vine “will prevent the user from following you and viewing your profile, but they will still be able to view and comment on your videos that appear in popular results for search tags.”

Note: The service says it’s only for those ages 13 and up.

 

Susan Marque got her M.F.A. in creative writing from The New School, writes for magazines, television, and is currently working on a memoir. She is also a healthy food expert, loves both food and tech, and all things photo related.  Her photo art has sold in Beverly Hills and London.

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