Enabling Constraints - Welcome to Vine

We have technology to thank for most enabling constraints.

These are the boxes we push out or in against -- the frames that force us to think, to distill, to arrive at the essence of something. Some occur in writing (140 characters), others in visual design (the Instagram square); the most common constraint is budget.

Creativity feeds on rebellion, in the surprise which occurs despite limits, rules, constraints. It's not just a neat trick to be able to summarize your pitch to a VC in less than 10 slides. It's further evidence of your ability to focus, to wring efficiency and hopefully to delight, to inspire.

So now we have Vine, the video-centric app from Twitter. Is it for everyone who shares, and every communications scenario? Of course not. Is it feature-rich? Not yet. But that's kind of the point.Here's three quick observations on how to embrace Vine.

1. Make lots, make often.

Vine isn't expensive enough to agonize over. This is a good thing. Six seconds is a cheap investment. The value isn't any one Vine you make, it's the forest you weave. On the flip side, consuming Vines doesn't cost viewers much either. Creators can err towards quantity, to discern what sticks. The risk isn't -- unless your sense of taste is at odds with culture.

2. Looping.

I think this is the most important feature of Vine. Your clip doesn't end. Ever. It loops back and starts over. And over. And over. In one sense, there is no beginning, no end. You want to think about your narrative the same way hip hop DJs work with samples to create beats.

3. You're an entire film crew.

Twitter is one role: The Writer. Vine asks you to be a writer, cinematographer, key grip, director, sound engineer, editor and producer all at the same time. Vine rewards those who take the time to think through the message, its pacing, framing, ambient sound during recording, acting. The benefit is you get to think about how an idea is communicated across multiple dimensions. Camera movement can convey as much metaphor or drama as what's said. Or it can screw up your intent.

I can see editing abilities being added to Vine's functionality, especially audio mixing (ala the highly useful Montaj video shoot/edit app). Hopefully Vine will enable users to switch between the iPhone 4/5 front and back lenses, so interviews are easier. Perhaps a title card/type generator would help. Or an ability to add links out from the embed to more than the file itself.

It's only going to get better.