Socialcam has been named the new ‘instagram for videos’. Excited? So are we. But more importantly, so are they. The free app launched for iPhone and Android in April of this year by the company behind live video-broadcasting site Justin.tv, and has already reached 20 million users, far surpassing its rival, Viddy — boom. The free application is pretty nifty; it lets you take videos, share them with everyone and offers cool, simple features to make your personal video unique. It could even be a budget way to create web videos for sales and marketing.
In order to use Socialcam, you have to sign up using your Facebook or Twitter account, or using your e-mail address. That’s right, if you want to use social, you’ve got to be social. Once you’re in, you can see the latest videos people you’re following have posted, or check out the most popular videos on the whole site. But the part we’re excited about is the ability to make your own personal video.
Socialcam offers nine special effects that you can browse before you start shooting, which means you can set the style of the video in advance. When you’ve finished recording, you get even more customization options, like adding a title, a theme, or some fancy background music. Then, because of course this is a social app, you can post the video to other social networks (let’s face it, why would you make a video if you’re not going to share it? For your own personal enjoyment? We doubt it).
But what about Viddy? Well, as another app for making online videos, it has also been successful and has some impressive effects. But we’re not loving the 15-second time limit, though some people think it levels the playing field. Uh, why would we want to do that? We’re fabulous and need more than 15 seconds to show it off. Socialcam, on the other hand, has no time limit and is amazingly fast, which is what everyone wants when creating and uploading a video.
Basically, this phone app is like having a mini video production company that you carry around in your pocket, ready to jump into action the next time your dog kills a squirrel, or your kid eats your dog’s food, or other everyday must-be-documented situations. With its clear, simple controls and stylish effects, Socialcam is perfect for beginners. But (ahem) don’t think that doesn’t mean you don’t need us, because no app can replace the top-quality equipment and extensive knowledge and expertise of the human professionals. At least for now, we’ll see about the robotphones we’ll all be using in 2020.
