At Instagram video launch, Zuckerberg doesn’t make the pitch

Molly Wood Jun 21, 2013
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At Instagram video launch, Zuckerberg doesn’t make the pitch

Molly Wood Jun 21, 2013
HTML EMBED:
COPY

What can you do in 15 seconds? Lots of things. But now you can record them all using Facebook’s photo-sharing app, Instagram. The social media company unveiled a new video recording feature on Thursday.

It’s Facebook’s answer to the popular Vine app featured by rival social media company Twitter. But Facebook’s offering more than doubles Vine’s 6-second video capacity.

“It still feels like a take on Vine, but its also something that seems to have been coming for a long time,” says Ellis Hamburger at website The Verge.

The other takeaway from the event was the role of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg – or lack thereof. When Facebook rolls out new products, they often rely on Zuckerberg to deliver the news. But yesterday, the person in the spotlight was Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom. Hamburger says the move was meant to reinforce Instagram’s unique brand at a time when young people are flocking to the app.  

“Instagram is quickly becoming Facebook’s most popular and most interesting mobile experience, it’s the one that people are turning too, especially younger people,” Hamburger says. “It’s super important they don’t let Mark Zuckerberg’s face watermark that entire experience.”

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