Remember going to YouTube to watch only one video and find yourself staying up until 2 a.m. watching more? Well, today some students are spending more time watching Vine and Instagram videos rather than the longer films on YouTube.
Binge Viner Shardora Paster, a junior health studies major, said she likes that Vine only allows users to record in a few seconds, because it shows how creative people can be in such a short period of time.
“I don’t believe they [videos] should be longer than six seconds. Instagram started allowing 15 second videos but to me they aren’t as entertaining as Vines…I still use YouTube. I’m a big music fan so I go to YouTube for listening to music,” Paster said.
With technology evolving, finding data or researching has become quick and easy- making viewers’ attention spans shorter. Let’s face it, watching a three minute video just isn’t as funny as watching a quick clip that gets straight to the punch line. This physiological effect is why Vine is becoming more popular, and more entertaining.
A compilation of Vine videos can actually be found on YouTube-the irony. These videos consist of 77 videos but last for eight minutes.
YouTube is the founding father for social media videos and is still being used significantly. If looking for an old film, tutorials or lectures YouTube will still be the first search engine. When it comes to wanting a quick laugh, Vine will probably be the place to visit. So, each media outlet have its own strengths.
Neil White, a sociology professor, said the new generation has a shorter attention span than ever before. He blamed it on technology- specifically cell phones.
White witnessed a group of students at the Wesley Foundation sitting down watching television, but he said they weren’t actually watching the TV.
“None of the students were looking at each other. They all were looking down at their cell phones. There was no eye contact or communication,” White said.
While teaching, White prefers not to use video clips or slideshows. He said he teaches the way Jesus did; it worked out for him.
Students like Robert Renn, a junior digital media major, said he still watches YouTube for entertainment and for learning.
“If I’m interested, I’ll keep watching. I won’t give much attention to like funny kittens and stuff like that. So, I’m usually looking up stuff that either I’m trying to learn something or I’m trying to learn an event,” Renn said.
Videos on the web have experienced an upward spiraled since Vine and Instagram launched.
According to the YouTube’s press, 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute whereas five tweets per sec contain a Vine post. By 2017, Neomobile estimated that two-thirds of the world’s data traffic will be video.
