When people find a social media creator they love, they’ll keep coming back to whatever app hosts their content. Vine, the six-second looping video app owned by Twitter, has today announced an update that will let users find more of its most popular creators to follow.
Previously, users could hook in their Twitter and Address Book to find their friends on the app. But with the new update, users will be able to venture outside their friend group and Twitter network to find folks on Vine who post frequently and post high-quality content.
The users featured in the new “Suggested Viners” section are hand-picked by the Vine staff to ensure it’s worth the follow.
The update also brings with it the ability to toggle your settings so that Vines will appear in HD.
Vine upgraded the app from 480p video to 720p video, making it more attractive for media publications on the web to embed Vine content on their own site.
That update came all the way back in March, and users can now finally change their own settings to publish content in 720p. On iOS. Android users will still have to wait.
Vine recently revamped the app’s Search page to not only include usernames and hashtags, but actual Vine content that fits the search criteria.
If you want to check out the new Vine, hit up the update in the iOS App Store.
These new updates, as well as revamped search, poise Vine to become a more vertical experience, in keeping with shifts being made at Twitter as a whole. The idea is to focus on top users and accounts on the creation side, while the majority of users can consume content created by those top users. As usual with Twitter, signal > noise.
These small tweaks also likely make Vine more attractive to advertisers, who will be able to watch audiences grow around specific content, making it easier to serve effective advertisements.
One question the Suggested User List raises is whether there’s any conflict of interest. Earlier this year, Twitter acquired Niche, a startup that non-exclusively connects stars on Vine, Instagram, and other social media apps to deals with businesses who want to pay them to create sponsored content that promotes their brand. [Disclosure: Josh Constine, one of the authors of this article, is the cousin of Niche co-founder Darren Lachtman.]
Now, Vine has the opportunity to push stars that work with Niche up the Suggested User List while potentially omitting stars that work with Niche’s competitors. There’s no evidence this has or will happen, but it’s something Vine needs to take into consideration to ensure it doesn’t appear to be playing favorites with stars that earn its parent company money.
Right now, Vine is ruled by an oligarchy of creators that got popular soon after the app’s release, and who cross-promote by guest starring in each other’s videos. King Bach, Logan Paul, Lele Pons, Curtis Lapore, and The Gabbie Show.
Their huge followings help them reach the top of the Popular and Comedy channels. But seeing the same faces over and over can get tiresome. Vine’s new Suggested User List could highlight fresh, up and coming creators so the app never gets stale.
