Users of the widely popular photo-sharing (and filtering) app Instagram will soon be able to share videos too, according to a Facebook source.
The reveal is supposed to be timed with Facebook's big press event this coming June 20.
While initial reports suggest that the event will have Facebook launch a news or RSS reader in an attempt to scoop up Google Reader users before it officially closes down this July, the rumor seems to have been debunked by this new source who says the social network will be releasing something more akin to its already working photo sharing application: Instagram video sharing.
Facebook bought Instagram for about $1 billion last year in a controversial move to secure its user base and integrate the app's functions into Facebook itself.
So far, reports indicate that the Instagram video sharing feature will closely resemble Vine, a video creation app launched a few months ago that is currently experiencing a flux in its user base. The Instagram video sharing app will let users take short videos and instantly share them with friends within the app and in Facebook.
The Instagram video sharing app is expected to be linked to Facebook as Vine is also linked to Twitter. This further fuels discussions regarding the social media race that Twitter and Facebook seem to be having--a race to see which one can deliver the most socially relevant and significant development to their user base.
Notably, Facebook has recently deployed the use of #hashtags in their new feature "Public Conversations," a move that openly adopts one of Twitter's current successful innovations. With this, many are starting to think that the Instagram video sharing function is yet another move to grab something from Twitter, especially now that Vine is still recovering from issues like uncontrolled porn sharing?
Also, according to Marketing Land, even with Vine users being able to share their 6-second videos to their Facebook network too, with Twitter launching an Android-based Vine app, the firgures of Vine shares zoomed up--surpassing Instagram shares on the network.
Facebook currently boasts of 660 active million users every day, excluding Instagram-only users, while Twitter logs in about 200 million active users. However, with the expected new Instagram video sharing capability, Facebook may just take over Twitter as well.