As MMW reported Wednesday, the latest scuttlebutt in microblogging is that Twitter will make video a critical component of its 2013 growth strategy. As of this morning, we’re gaining even more insight into this purported plan.
Twitter, which acquired Vine – makers of an upstart video-sharing app – in October 2012, told the world last night that video is coming to Twitter via a video tweet from company CEO Dick Costolo.
Prior to the Twitter acquisition, Vine was going to be a standalone iOS app. And that’s still the case: The startup still operates on its own, and if you want to use the service you’ll need to download it from Apple’s App store.
“Why would you want to download Vine?” asks Peter Kafka of All Things D, “Because it’s supposed to be a fun tool for making and sharing very short video clips — no longer than six seconds a pop — in the same way that Instagram worked for photos. And it’s designed in a similar way, with the ability to follow other Vine users’ clips, explore stuff from people you don’t know, etc.”
A formal announcement from Twitter regarding Vine could come as soon as today.