Data from Topsy has revealed that in terms of Twitter shares, video sharing app Vine surpassed rival Instagram only four days after it was released to**more** Android device users.

Vine was launched on Android devices on June 3, and amassed just over 1.8 milling Twitter posts, compared to two million mentions of Instagram in the same 24 hour period. By June 7, however, Vine had moved in front, with an impressive 2.5 million mentions beating Instagram’s 2.3 million.

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, hasn’t always had the best relationship with Vine-owning Twitter. Last year, Twitter made the decision to remove Instagram’s API access, meaning the photo app’s users no longer had the ability to use their Twitter accounts to find new contacts. In December, it was announced that Twitter users would no longer be able to use images from Instagram profiles in their Tweets, after Twitter Cards support was pulled.

Vine was acquired by Twitter late last year, and the iOS app was unveiled in January. It gives its users the tools to create six-second looped videos, which can then be easily shared on Facebook and Twitter. Vine appeared on Android’s Google Play marketplace earlier this month, where it has climbed to fourth position in the list of most popular free apps – one place above Instagram.

The app has been popular for creating short stop-motion videos and, because of its six-second time limit, people seem more willing to take the time to view multiple clips in one sitting.

As a marketing tool, visual content can be extremely effective, but it must be easily accessible and shareable – both things that Vine focuses heavily on. As the app’s popularity continues to grow, its users are likely to want to share content more often, making it even more appealing to attention-hungry brands.

Graeme Parton

Graeme has experience creating content for online sources and for the radio, and at university he studied Multimedia Journalism.