Twitter debuts short videos for tweets

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Social network Twitter says a new video service it acquired last fall will allow users to share brief video clips on their feed.

The service from Vine allows users to create looping videos lasting no longer than 6 seconds and share them in a tweet, USA Today reported Thursday.

Vine is available as a free app on the iOS App Store, and is not limited to Twitter; feeds can also be posted to Facebook.

Vine is being characterized by many as Twitter's "Instagram for video."

"Posts on Vine are about abbreviation -- the shortened form of something larger," Vine co-founder and general manager Dom Hofmann said in a blog post. "They're little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life. They're quirky, and we think that's part of what makes them so special."

Although currently only available as an iOS app, an Android version is reportedly in the works.

"We're working now to bring it to other platforms, so stay tuned for that," Twitter's VP of product, Michael Sippey, said on the company's blog.