In Spite of Instagram Video, Vine’s Still Climbing

By now, we’re all well aware of the Vine vs. Instagram Video debate. We’ve heard the battle-royale analogies — especially since Instagram is owned by Facebook, and Vine by Twitter — and reports from media sources like BBC News that Instagram is pulling ahead with “50% more Instagram than Vine links being shared on the net.”

Especially from a brand perspective, Instagram appears more valuable.

“What makes it [Instagram video] arguably more valuable for brands is Instagram’s existing bigger user base, especially for brands who have built Instagram followers, and the ability to apply filters,” says Mark Holden, head of futures at media planning and buying agency Arena in a quote for The Guardian.

The number of top global brands running videos on Instagram vs. Vine was more than double in the days following the big launch. Early signs point to Instagram video as a product that is stronger and with a bigger reach than its Vine counterpart.

Data aside, however, that perspective is much too simple.

Take a second — or six — before writing off Vine

Earlier this week, Mashable shared a reminder of Vine’s powerful, humanitarian pull.

The 95-year-old Nelson Mandela is in critical condition, and some of his supporters are using Vine to send their love through the #hugformandela hashtag.

These six-second clips are packed with concentrations of humanity’s most powerful emotions — love for one of history’s most revered leaders and fear of finally losing him.

That same emotion could easily be dispersed over 15 seconds — Instagram’s limit — instead of Vine’s limit of six. There’s no real difference. Experiences on Vine and Instagram are subjective. There’s storytelling value in both tools.

It’s all about context

Some users are great at tweeting. Others prefer sharing status updates with their circle of family and friends on Facebook. And then there are those who prefer to socialize in contexts of professional expertise, like LinkedIn and Quora. With the plethora of available social networks, people are starting to specialize in the networks that align most closely with their passions and interests.

“That’s because they offer different actions, and meet different needs,” explains Daniel Terdiman in an article for CNET.

Even though Instagram’s audience is bigger with 130 million users in contrast to Vine’s 13 million, most brands using either short-video technology will be dispersing them through Twitter either way

Twitter is a rhetorical tool, with users aiming to share as much information in as little space as possible. Instagram users share a common love for visual communication. News channels and publishers might flock to Twitter while the Better Homes and Gardens of the world might opt to establish presences on Instagram.

Focus on The Story

For some users, Instagram’s 15-seconds of storytelling time poses a clear advantage over Vine’s six.

“At the end, it’s all about the story,” says Amit Lavi, the marketing director for Slidely in a quote for CNET. “There are stories you can tell in six seconds, but they need planning and articulating exactly the right message and script. Fifteen seconds is just about the right length of time that allows everyone to tell a story in a very simple way.”

For others, the opposite holds true because of Vine’s ability to loop videos as well as its simple pausing feature that has allowed some users (and brands) to become masters of stop-motion.

“Vine’s looping feature has allowed many users to creatively turn six seconds of video into something much richer than one would imagine possible,” explains Terdiman.

The keyword there is “creatively.” Brands should spend less time hand-wringing over picking the right platform and more time planning the most effective, creative, and memorable content.