https://vine.co/v/hnbL5muW9PA/embed
To the uninformed viewer, the guy in the video is just a funny dude who likes puns, but most will recognize Bo Burnham from this Vine before his rising fame as a stand-up artist and comedic genius. Vine is a social network that epitomizes our need for quick, hassle-free information sharing. In the span of less than half a minute, a 6 second-looped video made you laugh, made you think of someone who might enjoy watching it, and made you get the urge to share it. You are now a branch in the intertwining world of the Vine phenomenon.
Relatively new, Vine started early 2013 and within its beginning months grew exponentially in popularity. With the purchase of the company by Twitter, it has become easier to share Vines especially among these two social platforms, as well as Facebook and other sharing methods (text messaging, emailing, Tumblr). Among the frequent users of the video-sharing app, adolescents have used this media modality as participants, observers (passive and active), and promoters. Teens record, watch, comment, and share continuously leaving us educators wondering what might be the threats and the benefits of Vine to student learning and adolescent development.
To start, let’s look at three negative aspects that Vine has on developing adolescents. First, Vine videos are public domain, unless the profile is set on private. Even then, tech savvy users can find the embedded code of the video and share. Adolescents are at a stage where they have trouble grasping what is socially acceptable. They might not understand the consequences some of the Vines might bring, (i.e) suspension or punishment for posting up underage drinking or destroying school property. Second, the world of Vine is not free of cyberbullying, such as “posting mean, aggressive and hurtful comments, recording video of others without their knowledge and then sharing the Vines as a way to make fun of or mock them”.1 A few months after its launch, Vine saw the rise of the slap game trend. While one person records, another person slaps an unsuspecting victim. The reaction is then shared through the webs of the internet. Unfortunately, some Vines became more aggressive with the knockout game, I am sure you can deduct what that consists of. Teens are in an age where they want to fit it and follow the trends, no matter how dangerous or disrespectful they might be. Thirdly, Vine usage pattern correlate with adolescents’ lack of sleep. According to research2, there is a higher fraction of posts, as well as likes or re-Vines, in the evenings (10pm-11pm) and in the weekends. The same research found that higher loop (re-watching) fractions were found at 11am which for many secondary schools aligns with lunch time. Adolescents might be up late making Vines either from home or outside with their friends which cuts the amount of sleep they desperately need for their development. In addition, Vine enters the school setting, mostly during lunch, and administrators cannot control what is being watched or shared (positive or negative).
However, Vine has its positive aspects that can be applied by teachers to enhance student learning. Vine is a platform for creativity. Students in Spanish class can use their creativity to make a Vine using the grammar or vocabulary. Unlike using Youtube videos, Vines focus more on production. This is possible because it is easier to make (quick editing and only a smartphone is necessary) and faster to watch. Having a class of 34 students, individual Vine presentations will not take up too much of the class time and leave some for classroom discussions. In addition, being an global network, students can be able to watch Spanish Vines and discuss, or even share the class-made Vines with a collaborating secondary school in the target-language country. Vine, therefore, can promote cultural interconnectivity in a positive manner. Teachers, however, need to build media literacy and help students be cautious navigating this platform. Setting up private profiles just for class might be a start. Revamping the use of Vine can help adolescents use it in a positive manner and protect themselves as well. In addition, different content teachers can take advantage of the different tags of Vines and encourage students to follow politics, the news, positive role models, etc. Vine can be used for social, as well as personal development and awareness. The key is to use it wisely and work towards engaging the students through a platform that is relevant to them, their interests, and their new way of information learning and sharing.
1http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~jcliu/Papers/UnderstandInstantVideo.pdf
2http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~rhan/Papers/Asonam2015_cyberbullying.pdf
Natalie –
I definitely see the merits of using Vine in educational settings! As you mentioned, I like how Vine forces you to be creative and think outside the box – essentially coming up with ways to help students remember the subject better. I think it’ll also be engaging for the students to make fun six second clips.
The only thing that worries me is how public Vine is. I know you address this towards the end, but there are things that people post on Vine that isn’t always appropriate for students. I think it’ll be challenging to find how to reconcile the social media aspect of Vine and the repurposing of it for education. But as I stated before, I think Vine has such great potential for learning in classrooms and will help students not only learn the subject matter but also develop technological savviness.
I really like the idea of using Vine for short video production, as it hits on many of the same points I hit in my post on Youtube Video production. While making YT videos has its merits, it can definitely be a lengthy process. Plus, I agree that students would probably be very willing to jump on board to use a platform they are familiar with in an academic sense. However, with the recent announcement that Vine will be shutting down, I wonder if platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat could possible serve the same purpose by possibly creating a privated class account?
Interesting points and ideas, Natalie! Thanks!