Twitter adds loopy videos with Vine integration

Six-second shots to spam your friends

Twitter users can now add six-second looping videos to their daily 140-character vignettes using technology the company bought from the developer start-up Vine.

"Like Tweets, the brevity of videos on Vine (6 seconds or less) inspires creativity. Now that you can easily capture motion and sound, we look forward to seeing what you create," said Michael Sippey, VP of product at Twitter in the announcement.

So far, the 5.7MB free application is only available to owners of iPads and the iPhone 3GS and above, and it's optimized for the iPhone 5, according to Vine. There's no word on when Android users might get to try it out. All videos posted are automatically public to other Vine users.

"Posts on Vine are about abbreviation – the shortened form of something larger," said Vine GM Dom Hofmann. "They're little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life. They're quirky, and we think that's part of what makes them so special."

CEO Dick Costello tweeted a video created by Hofmann using the integrated service yesterday, an edited six seconds on the making of the perfect steak tartare, and both the video and the food looked very good indeed. But El Reg suspects Twitter streams are going to be bombarded by repeating clips with far less professional examples before users figure out how to get the best out of the Vine tool.

Steak tartare in six seconds. vine.co/v/bOIqn6rLeIDvia @dhof

January 23, 2013

The application is available worldwide from Thursday and we wait to see what weird and/or wonderful material the abbreviated amateur auteurs of the world will come up with. Feel free to let us know of any egregious examples on the forum boards. ®