Instagram Turns It Up a Notch

The upgrades continue! On August 7th, Instagram announced some new additions, including a video feature that will allow for its app users to upload videos previously taken on their smart phones (you can finally post that video from last year of you going skydiving!). As simple of an upgrade as it seems, it is a genius idea.

But what about Vine? The creative 6-second video-taking app seemed to spark major interest within a few weeks of launching, and just months later Instagram came out with its own video feature. So, is this copying or just smart marketing? Some people seem to think it was a smart and strategic move on Instagram’s part, while others believe it was a classic case of copying. There’s even a phrase that went viral after the upgrade:

“’Instagram, are you OK?’ ‘Yeah, I’m vine’ What was that?’ ‘I said, I’m fine…’”

As controversial a topic as this has become, most feedback claims that Vine won’t suffer, due to its large amount of avid and loyal users it already had. However, with Instagram’s newest feature, do you think that will change in the future?

In addition to Instagram’s new video ability, they also released a feature that allows you to balance/straighten the photos you wish to post, and a feature that now allows Android 4.0 owners to use the video feature on Instagram. With these constant new upgrades, Instagram is able to satisfy and provide more options for its users.

Now the question is, will Vine do anything in response?

Dun dun dun. The plot thickens.