Amy Balmuth It was one fateful day, not too many moons ago, that I was sitting in a Potbelly’s and uttered the words “I’m going to get a vine.” Acquired through the app store, Vine is a form of social media that allows the user to create six-second videos played on a loop. It was love at first vine, for I was quickly enamored with those Lilliputian videos. I was fascinated by the ability to see slices of people’s lives as they happen. But Vine is not just looping footage of varying degrees of effort. Vine is like a fortune cookie or self-help pamphlet: it shows you how to be a better person. Here’s why:
- Live in the moment. Because you can’t upload or edit videos, you only have to seize a Vine-worthy moment as it happens. Just as the Romans would “carpe diem,” we must carpe de-vine (or risk no likes).
- Prioritize what’s important. With only six seconds, you have to make them count. Vines reveal what (and who) is important to a person.
- Listen. It’s easy to forget about what’s happening around you when encapsulated in your own Vine world, but it often leads to distracting background noise. Paying attention to details and listening carefully means not only a better vine but a better you.
- Be patient. As with everything in life, there are obstacles. It is not rare to be harangued with questions such as: What are you doing? Are you taking a photo of me? What is this “vine” you speak of? Answering these questions takes patience and articulation on behalf of the viner—two important skills for the professional realm.
- Bring people together. Vine, like any worthy application, unifies people in the real world. Inviting friends to download this mint-colored app and then showing them how to use it strengthens social bonds (whilst improving your follower-to-following ratio).
- Embrace imperfection. When you live in the moment (1) things go wrong, which is why most vines are extremely mediocre. Learning to embrace mistakes (and compose a funny caption) creates a more easy-going, lighthearted and likable character.
