Vine was probably the first bandwagon I ever jumped on that hadn’t already been passed by some sort of a bandfreighter, in the sense that Vine was still on the up-and-up when I signed my life away, and there wasn’t much else like it.
Let’s look at small-scale video production from behind the glowing screen briefly in order to demonstrate how simple it is to use Vine in comparison to other video-based services. YouTube videos, to be considered “good,” must have some length to them. No one should put any effort into a video if it’s only getting posted on Facebook, the land of moms sharing “Minions” and recipes with friends that can’t do much more than “love this!!!” One would assume that Instagram, the hipster photo mecca of the Internet, would give its users a little bit more than a handful of filters and a text box, but videos didn’t reach the app until June 2013.
Twitter, however, understood that the site gained its user base from 140-character updates, not videos, so they purchased Vine, originally a small, three-developer venture, in October 2012 for $30 million to expand their audience appeal. However, unlike Instagram, owned by and integrated into Facebook, I believe Vine has become an entirely separate entity from Twitter, offering a completely new brand presence, through capabilities such as looping videos, and a distinguishable green color scheme, whereas both Instagram and Facebook work off the same blue color palette.
But, as with any new Internet community, there has to be the elite that overshadows everyone else for seemingly no good reason. You know, the “relatable” and painfully unfunny Viners who talk about how high school homework, baes, and parents being like whatever weigh so heavily on their 30-year-old lives. Those Viners who create multiple accounts to re-Vine their own posts to create traffic. Those Viners who collaborate with several other equally unfunny Viners just because they can’t produce semi-watchable content alone. Those Viners that exaggerate the splash created from washing an up-facing spoon. Those Viners who use their “fame” to absolve themselves of any legal responsibility when tried for serious offenses. I would be fine with a Vine “ruling class” if those who were in power deserved it. I wholeheartedly believe none of the Viners listed on Vine’s Wikipedia deserve a single follower, but hey, I have taste. You may have seen Vines from Brittany Furlan, Nash Grier, Curtis Lepore, or Lele Pons show up on your news feed, if we can call anything on the Internet truly “news.” Though it may be just an app, I love Vine and have seen the creativity and talent it can foster, but the people listed above are by no means talented.
That said, here’s a short list in no particular order of 12 Viners I have come to adore:
1. Drew Gooden
2. Dan Curtin
4. Cole Hersch (aka Cornib Bleau)
8. Josh Kennedy
9. Evan Breen
10. Mike Ma
11. Karl From Online
Click any of these names and enjoy.
