Don’t be fooled by the recent death of the Flip camera. Consumer-created video content is still thriving. In fact, it’s to the credit of modern smartphones’ built-in camcorders that Flip’s heyday was cut short. As such, a new crop of mobile apps is marrying the mobile video trend with the social functionality that digital audiences have come to expect.
Viddy: The fact that a little company called Qualcomm recently contributed to
Viddy’s first round of financing bodes well for the new mobile video sharing service, which allows users to share personal videos more selectively on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. (Tumblr and Foursquare are forthcoming
reportedly.) Just as Twitter is defined by its 140-character limit, Viddy also forces its users to self-edit—in this case, down to 15-second clips. All video trimming can be done in an in-app virtual studio that also includes MTV-worthy “production packages” of music and transitions. For those who haven’t gone cross-eyed from
3-D overload, there’s even an effect for that.
Vlix: Another entrant in the flood of
“Instagram-for-video” mobile apps, Vlix allows users to share mobile video clips on blogs and
social media platforms and within in its own community. Like a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter, Vlix members can “friend” and “follow” one another, allowing them to view videos in the feed format to which the digerati have grown accustomed. However, Vlix is not defined solely by its seamless sharing capabilities. The
iPhone app, which was developed by video advertising startup SpotMixer, also flaunts impressive editing and effects features, including the types of filters and lenses that have made
Hipstamatic and
the like must-haves in Gen Y app libraries.
Socialcam: There’s no shortage of lifestreaming sites that allow wannabe reality stars to broadcast their every move before a live online audience, but not everyone wants to make public video footage of themselves sitting on the toilet. Recognizing the opportunity for less exhibitionist video sharing,
Justin.tv launched Socialcam, a free app for both
iPhone and
Android that may have the loudest buzz in the mobile video sharing category currently. What it lacks in the artsy editing faculties of Viddy and Vix, it makes up for in ease of use. And, in addition to the obvious platforms (namely, Twitter and Facebook), its sharing roster also includes more unlikely services like
Posterous and
Dropbox.
