Writers, illustrators and Twitter's Vine app

Evolution of an I'M BORED illustration in 6 sec video. vine.co/v/bp7AQAg3pwd

— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) March 17, 2013

(To stop the video above from repeating, just click on the image)

I recently downloaded the Vine app on my iPhone after hearing a lot of buzz about it. Vine is an app by Twitter that enables users to easily create short video (max 6 seconds) that they can share on social media like Twitter and Facebook. It's sort of a cross between YouTube and Twitter, and has a clever interface that's easy to use.

Videos will automatically start playing when you start browsing Vine, but you can pause any video by just tapping on it. Videos are on repeat play -- this may sound odd and possibly annoying, but once you start using Vine you realize it's for the user convenience. Since the videos are max 6 seconds long, chances are good that you'll want to view a video at least twice. Recording a video is also super-easy -- you just tap and hold the screen to record.

Some are experimenting with stop-motion animation. Labor-intensive, sure, but it's only for max 6 seconds. Knowing that, even I will probably give it a shot in the future. :-)

I've noticed a number of children's book publishers, authors and illustrators join Vine since it launched, though most have either not posted any videos yet or have only posted one or two test vids. It's not yet clear whether Vine is going to take off. The interface needs some work (there is currently no way to share someone else's video directly from the app) but I'm sure updates are coming.

It seems like the kind of app that could be a hit with younger readers, once a few more features are added, which is one of the reasons I'm checking it out.

The other reason: it's fun. :-) One of my favorite follows is Jed Whedon, who is the brother of producer/director/writer Joss Whedon, who has been posting mini-movies, musical clips and other interesting Vine experiments.

If you do join Vine, feel free to follow me at "Debbie Ohi."

I'll be posting a follow-up later this year to let you all know if I'm sticking with Vine and why (or why not).