Facebook and Twitter have been warring for a long-time in the struggle for social media market dominance. Both have very powerful weapons in the form of proprietary media-uploading tools –Instagram and Vine respectively – and each has been synonymous with either photo or video sharing. That was until late June, when Instagram expanded its functionality to include the same kind of video options previously associated with Vine.
Immediately, Instagram looks as though it holds the strongest position. Not only does it have over 130 million users compared to Twitter’s 30 million, it also boasts an existing library of filters and image stabilisation codecs for people to jazz up their hastily-shot masterworks. In addition, Instagram has also implemented longer videos (15 seconds vs. Vine’s 6 second limit), which may be useful for brands using the platform to get across their message. Even more powerful, is its ability to embed videos directly onto web-pages, a service launched on July 10th that allows a much more integrated offering.
While Vine has been up-and-running since January this year, accumulating a strong following, including brands like MTV, Target and Bacardi, it has been massively wounded by Instagram’s challenge. The number of links to Vine videos dropped by just under half a million on the day after the Instragram update was launched, with an extra 300,000 Instagram links taking their place (source: Topsy data). Brands like Nike, Burberry, Disney, MTV and Starbucks have already posted nine bits of video content between them, which has inspired 26,9943 comments and likes.
MEC opinion: There are still two major reasons Vine should not be ignored simply because a newer technology has emerged. Firstly, as Polonius says, “brevity is the soul of wit” – shorter videos can be a lot snappier and force creative people into getting their point into the consumer mindset more effectively. Secondly, many users will have no intention of jumping ship and have actually been disappointed by Instagram’s progress, noticing a decrease in image quality since the upgrade, with some even using the Gramatica app to filter out videos entirely!
However, one thing these trends do show is that video is bound to be an even more integral part of the online experience, having gone from hefty downloads, to YouTube streaming, to the current trend toward instant on-page viewing. Mastering both Vine and Instagram is the only way to be fully prepared for this digital future.