Vine – 6 seconds will be the future or just a fad?

Hemingway’s 6 words in 6 seconds

Is our society built around brevity? Has our attention span been reduced to 140 characters and six seconds of video? As humans, have our advancements in technology caused some sort of devolution? We are so busy and so distracted that we have resorted to six seconds? Does anyone remember 12seconds.tv, which launched in 2008 and then called it quits in 2010? Were they ahead of the market, or was 12 seconds too long for today’s inattentive consumer?

It was Ernest Hemingway who supposedly responded to a request for writing a full story in six words with: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Those are six powerful words that allow an individual to create a story within their head. What happened to the baby? Was there ever a baby? Why are the shoes for sale? We, as readers of the simplistic six words, create a complete story in our head.

Just six words are enough to grab our attention and evoke an emotion—can six seconds do the same on our iPhones? 

On Thursday, January 24, 2013, Twitter launched a new app for IOS devices called Vine. This app allows users to create six-second videos and upload them on the Vine platform as well as share them on Twitter.

Why Vine Works

Vine is a six-second video app, as we mentioned before, but it works because of simplicity and creativity. As Hemingway proved, simplicity works—which is especially true today. It’s not a ground-breaking idea from a social media giant that brought us 140 characters or less. Genius maybe, but it’s an old idea reworked, and the simplicity is forcing the user to get to the point.

Getting to the point is why Vine will be successful. This easy to use iPhone app is changing the way marketers think and how they reach today’s consumer. The consumer is distracted, you only have seconds to reach them, and with Vine you have six.

It doesn’t hurt that the interface and app is also extremely easy to use, too. The picture to the right shows the menu screen, and to be honest that’s all there really is to it. No filters, no crazy technology, no hard to figure out buttons, just a camera, some posting options and a community.    

Beyond Vine and Twitter

Vine real-time video sites have already begun popping up, creating the ability to share videos beyond the app and Twitter. Sites such as Vinepeek.com and Vineit.co allow the short videos to be spread outside of social media.

Vinepeek streams video uploads from users, it’s like a relentless six-second couch surf. To be honest, it’s extremely distracting and awesome at the same time. You get to peek into the lives of people all around the world. Vinepeek only picks up the latest uploads, it doesn’t allow users to submit their videos. For now, it’s simply a constant, random stream.

Vineit is the equivalent to Pinterest’s “Pin It” feature. Users add the icon to their browser bar or bookmark it, and when they see a Vine video on Twitter or elsewhere they have the option to share it on Tumblr or grab the embed code. Vineit really opens up possibilities, because you can share the videos on blogs, websites and more. This could create a great opportunity for marketers and advertisers.

GannettLocal's own professional looping artist, Mr. Krys VanSlyke. Follow him on Twitter for future Vine posts! 

What does the future hold for Vine?

As a digital marketing agency, what does Vine mean for the future of our industry? And can this little app that seems to be a stop animation artist’s gold mine be useful to businesses and advertisers? How will Twitter monetize the platform, and will we be subject to six-second native ads?

We may not know the answer to all of these questions, but there is one thing for sure: there has been a giant spike in rare online cat videos.

Marketers and businesses have already begun injecting content on the platform. In this post by Vine’s own blog, we see short videos from Tyra Banks, Malibu Rum, the Brooklyn Nets, Gap and Emmy Rossum backstage during the Conan O’Brien show. Each video is entertaining in its own light, but it’s already an example of how brands and personalities are utilizing the Vine app.

As a business advertising online, video is pure gold—especially short videos. Capturing the consumer’s attention is extremely difficult, but six seconds with creativity can really make an impact if done right.