Galery

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My judgement on Vine: Its Android version was released only a week ago and it is generally lagging behind iOS in some respects. Working with Vine is easy and fun, it provides a scope for creative expression and features some original videos. I see the application as the king of short advertisement. You will be surprised how much you can fit in 6 seconds. The disadvantages I would point out are: there is no video deleting option which means that you should be careful what you are uploading, there is no option for saving projects for further processing, there are no filters. All this means that the application is going to develop but even in this simple form, it is a great tool for people who can think outside the box. I did not encounter any problems with the application except that a message to try again interrupted the uploading of the video several times. And last but not least - this is a typical mobile application attempting, at least for the moment, to build a community of active smartphone users. If you are not one of them, you will have no access to Vine and will have to rely on its users sharing a video on their profile on a social networking web site or blog.

Working with Instagram

Instagram has existed for two years now and, as already mentioned, this is evident. The application offers a lot more at present. Of course, if you are not familiar with it you will perceive the various screens in a different way. The difference is obvious when you start using the application. On the other hand, the video making option is brand new and this is obvious too. It lacks the precision to control the duration of filming. I tried to make a stop motion animation and saw a message that the button that activates the recording should be held. Maybe it is a matter of habit, but being a person with no experience in this kind of activities, working with Vine was easier for me. I will add here that I had purposely used Instagram after Vine. Certainly, the power of video recording in Instagram is in the production of "traditional" videos in which there is a continuous and linear shooting of a scene. Instagram allows you to delete the last series of frames in the case that you are making a video by shooting in several sessions. It offers more video processing options which, I think, are very well developed. You can choose the title of the video by a slider that shows to which part of the video the corresponding frame belongs.

Here's what I have created using Instagram:

A meeting in the ocean

Idea and script: I decided to develop the theme with the traditional media-shark. It is again chasing its next victim but this time a whale-smartphone starts chasing it. The conclusion about the bigger fish here stands by itself. I would like to think that the majority of traditional media would be able to successfully adapt to new technologies. It is a matter of survival. In practice, reading a "newspaper" on a tablet or smartphone offers more opportunities, but it does not make a great difference. A screen replaces paper. So, there is no cause for panic.

My judgement on Instagram: The application is 2 in 1. It has no rival in terms of popularity as regards pictures. Five million videos were uploaded on the Instagram network in just 24 hours.  The development team has tried to offer something different from Vine, not only in terms of duration but also in terms of functionalities, and mostly in terms of shooting. I would not mind more precise control over the camera button to make animations too. What I did not like while working with Instagram was that it had crashed several times. While I was trying to save the video and share it on Twitter, the application “fell asleep” so much that I had to reboot my phone. There were no such problems while I was uploading the video on the servers of Instagram. I cannot say whether it was Instagram or Twitter’s fault but I am sure that a solution will be found. I also consider the fact that Android applications encounter more problems because of the diverse hardware. The website of Instagram offers the opportunity to log in to your account, but you should have one, which you can create via the mobile application. There is again "discrimination" as regards those users who do not use a smartphone.

Both applications show the direction in which the social services for sharing copyright videos (and photos) will develop. I emphasize the copyright requirements. These kind of applications are tools that allow many people with good ideas and imaginative thinking to realize and share them with the world. The advantage of Vine is the short form and good control over the recording, which are a prerequisite for more originality. Vine requires more time, like in the saying, "I am writing you a long letter because I have no time for a short one." Instagram does have a large number of users and offers a more traditional recording, which is suitable for "home videos". We could say that, at this stage, both applications are adding to each other rather than competing. If you have a smartphone and a spare half an hour at least, I recommend that you try them out.