Twitter (Photo : Reuters)
Twitter's micro-video service Vine has launched a version that features short clips for children. Using animated characters as backdrops, the six-second videos on Vine Kids cater to kids with age-appropriate content and basic swipe gestures to move to the next clip.
Launched in June 2012, Vine was acquired by Twitter in October 2012 reportedly for $30 million. The mobile video sharing service is known for letting users record and edit looping video clips that are up to six seconds only.
As described on iTunes, Vine Kids gives kids a fun way to watch Vines allowing them to handpicked videos that are appropriate for a young audience through adorable animated characters.
While the app is available on iOS, it is still not clear when Vine Kids will appear on Android devices if it will be available on the devices at all.
Since a lot of viral Vine videos contain profanity or adult humor, the Vine Kids app allows children to watch family-friendly content with animated characters, funny animals and Sesame Street clips.
When the user swipes videos to the left, a new Vine is played and every time the user taps the screen, it plays fun sounds, as well.
Twitter's head of communication and marketing Carolyn Penner wrote in a Vine blog that the idea of Vine Kids came about "during an office conversation in early January," which was during Hack Week when Twitter's staff can work on projects that are outside the daily work.
"One of my colleagues was talking about how much his two-year-old daughter loves Vine," Penner explained.
