Vine Withers as New Instagram Video Shares Take Lead on Twitter

It has been only about 10 days since video on Instagram debuted, and Twitter-owned competitor Vine is already losing ground.

Marketing Land used analytics tool Topsy to compare Instagram versus Vine link shares on Twitter. It found that Vine shares on Twitter dropped almost 40 percent between June 19 and June 20 — the day Instagram video launched.

In the week that followed, the Topsy data shows Vine shares on Twitter continued to fall. Marketing Land reports that on June 26, less than 900,000 Vine links were shared on Twitter, compared with nearly 3 million shared on June 15.

Instagram's video share takeover on Twitter is ironic, considering Vine is owned by Twitter itself. Instagram is owned by rival social network Facebook. Both platforms empower mobile users with short video sharing. But while Vine limits users to 6 second clips, Instagram videos can be 15 seconds. Within the first 24 hours of Instagram video availability on June 20, users uploaded more than 5 million videos. Vine may have foreseen the impending competition, since it had publicly thanked its users on Twitter just two days before, calling them "awesome."

Further adding fuel to the competition are brands. Data provided to Mashable by Simply Measured showed twice as many top 100 brands recently used Instagram Video as Vine. To be fair, Instagram had the advantage of a solid user base before its video debut, while Vine was a completely new platform.

The competition wasn't friendly even before video on Instagram existed. In January, Facebook blocked the then-new Vine app from being able to find Facebook friends on the platform.

Vine could be fighting the competition's momentum with further releases: As of Friday, Vine is now available for Kindle Fire users on Amazon. This release comes just weeks after Vine finally arrived for Android. On Thursday, Vine updated its Android app to include support for front-facing cameras, ideal for those selfies.

Vine vs Instagram: which do you prefer using for short mobile video? Let us know in the comments.

Mashable composite thumbnail: Ivy vine image via iStockphoto, aleroy4; blue bird graphic via iStockphoto, julos.

1. 1. Clip Editing

   Social media erupted in oooohs and aaaaahs when Instagram announced that its videos include editing features. Unlike Vine, Instagram allows users to delete unsatisfying past frames. Simply click the delete button marked with an "X" to remove the last frame (or two). Or just start all over, silly.

   

2. 2. Cover Frame

   It wouldn't be Instagram without a beautiful photo to entice users. Instagram encourages users to select a "cover frame," which is basically a splash photo that appears in-feed as a preview to your video. This is one of the smartest decisions Instagram could make -- when Instagram users have their choice of cover photo, it ensures they put their best feet forward. Hopefully, that means our scrolling remains beautiful, not fuzzy from poor video capture.

   Note: While we wait on an Android app update, those users will only see cover frames of uploaded videos, but are currently not able to play the videos themselves.

   Without the option to set a splash image, Vine simply plays videos from their first frames. Often, those aren't the most flattering or attention-grabbing of images.

   

3. 3. Filters, Duh

   It wouldn't be Instagram without filtering options -- 13 to be exact. They perform very similarly to the photo filters, but have all new names, like Moon, Gingham and Dogpatch.

   Vine keeps it raw. All "editing" must be performed in-video, meaning videographers have to think about lighting and exposure as they're filming -- if they want to achieve a groovy vintage effect.

   

4. 4. Tap to Focus

   When capturing video in Instagram, you can tap within the frame to focus your depth of field, which makes for more professional-looking footage.

   Tapping in Vine means you're already filming. You won't find an option to force-focus on the platform.

   

5. 5. Image Stabilization

   During its announcement, Instagram shared a brand new tool in its video arsenal: Cinema. According to the company, developers worked with "video scientists" to create a custom image stabilization product. It's meant to smooth shaky footage for a more professional, streamlined result. You can see the difference by selecting and de-selecting the "vibrate" icon during your edit.

   Vine offers no such technology. But we're guessing a small tripod would solve shaky hands on both platforms.

   

6. 6. Vision Beyond the Video Frame

   A minor difference, Instagram includes a slightly transparent frame around the video, in shooting mode. (Notice the white writing on the blue card in the screengrab above.) Depending on the user, this will either improve or confuse video shooting. You may find it helps to frame your video, if you're very particular. For others, this outside-frame movement may get in the way.

   Note: When comparing this feature on iOS, we noticed the frame appears above and below the video on iPhone 5, but only above on iPhone 4S (due to differences in screen size).