Twitter sends out emails to promote Vine hours after Instagram gets video

Well, well, it looks like Twitter is finally donning war-paint and getting into the short-video wars with Facebook headlong. Not even a day after Facebook announced video features for Instargam, Twitter has shot out emails to some users informing them about Vine and its features.

For those not in the know, Vine is Twitter’s 6-second long video shooting app for Android and iOS. The app was released back in January and has seen a faithful fan following ever since. However, with Instagram being given the ability to shoot videos and apply filters to them, alarm bells are ringing for Vine and its monopoly on the short-video market.

The mail Twitter sent out to promote Vine

According to a report by The Next Web, Twitter seems to have sent a partial mail-blast to the micro-blogging site’s users who have not taken to using Vine yet. Twitter too was abuzz with news of the mail that left a lot of users surprised and several Instagram fans gloating. “I just got an email from Twitter telling me ALL about Vine. Worried about something, guys?” wrote @lissa4 while @SwurvRadio wrote, “Just got an email from Twitter about Vine hahahaha! #THATBIRDISCOOKED”

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The mail that some users have received pretty much reads like Vine-for-Dummies. “A new app for creating short, looping videos,” it reads, “Vine videos are little windows into the people, places and things that make up your life.” The mail also added some examples for users to click through and experience.

Vine held quite a monopoly over the short-video market before Instagram stepped in. However, with Instagram’s impressive figures like 130 billion monthly active users and 16 billion pictures, Vine has a cause for worry. Instagram’s newest video feature allows users to create 15-second long videos, compared to Vine’s 6-seconds, and allows you to choose from 13 filters to apply to your video.

While an alarmed Vine has already started thanking users and teasing new and upcoming features, it has to innovate or Instagram might just win this round.