Five Reasons Why Instagram Video is Better Than Vine

Instagram’s June 20th iOS and Android app update added video sharing. The move was a smack upside the head to Twitter’s popular Vine social-video app, which is also available for both iOS and Android.

The blogosphere was immediately abuzz with news that Vine was being dropped for Instagram video. About 2.5 million Vine links were shared the day before the Instagram update (June 19), according to Topsy, a Web analytics company. The next day, only about 1.5 million Vine links were shared, and the decline has reportedly continued. 

I’m not too worried about Vine, though. It’s a great way to see what others are doing through the app’s six-second video clips. There’s a lot of #selfie silliness on Vine, but there’s also some genuine creativity.

Even so, Instagram is now my go-to video recording/social-sharing app. Here are five reasons why.

• Instagram lets you record videos up to 15 seconds in length compared to Vine’s six-second ceiling. While Vine’s limitation has sparked creativity, as I mentioned, I appreciate the extra recording time.
• You can share Instagram videos on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, foursquare and in email. Vine videos can only be shared on Facebook and Twitter.
• Instagram lets you pick a specific point in your video to serve as its thumbnail image. Vine doesn’t currently offer this feature.
• As you’d expect, Instagram has filters—13 total—you can apply to your videos. Vine has none.
• Instagram lets you share photos and videos; Vine is video-only. This difference is significant for people who’d rather use a handful of apps with ranging functionality than have lots of dedicated apps.

Ultimately, Instagram is for recording and sharing videos with friends and followers. Vine does that, too, of course. But right now Instagram provides a more robust media-sharing experience.