Announced by Twitter over email and noted by The Next Web, Vine users will be able to sign up for vanity URLs starting on December 20, 2013 at 9 a.m. PT if the account is verified. For users without verified accounts, vanity URL registration opens up on Monday, December 23. However, verified Twitter users won’t necessarily have to rush to grab their Vine vanity URL. The Vine team plans on automatically reserving vanity URLs that match a verified user’s Twitter username, thus Will Sasso doesn’t need to rush to snag “vine.co/WillSasso” in order help more people find his series of hilarious Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions.
Ideally, this should help Vine users discover more video and find a user’s videos by easily tying in a vanity URL. The timing of the launch is likely designed to take advantage of consumers that will unwrap new smartphones at Christmas and sign up for a Twitter or Vine account next week.
In addition to the announcement of vanity URLs, Vine also launched support for Android Gingerbread devices earlier today. According to Google’s Android development page, people using the older Gingerbread version of the Android software still comprise nearly a fourth of all Android users. Unfortunately, that version of the Vine application doesn’t support the creation of videos. Gingerbread users can only watch videos using the new application. Creating Vine videos likely requires an Android device that’s using Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher.
Vanity URLs could also help companies brand their videos more effectively and direct fans to a specific page. Most recently, Best Buy attempted to jump on the Vine bandwagon with the #VineInLine Twitter campaign on Black Friday. Best Buy asked customers to film short clips of people standing in line in front of Best Buy on Black Friday. However, the response to the campaign fell flat for Best Buy, perhaps because the incentive of earning a retweet from the retailer wasn’t exactly exciting for consumers.
