Facebook recently launched an app called Riff that enables users to create collaborative videos with their network of friends. Each finished project is a composition of short clips that are added to the video as it gets shared among friends — and friends of friends — on social media. For Facebook, Riff is another attempt to further encourage its users to watch and share video content on its social platform as part of a larger ongoing strategy to better leverage advertising opportunities.  Continue reading New Facebook App Intros Collaborative Video and Ad Potential

Two months after Instagram introduced video to its popular app, the company has acquired video sharing app Luma (formerly Midnox), which provides users with a variety of filters and adjustment controls including brightness, contrast, saturation, exposure and more. Luma also has stabilization technology that could help Instagram with its Cinema stabilization feature. The Luma app is no longer available via iTunes, although the company will offer support through the end of the year. Continue reading Instagram Acquires Video Sharing App and Stabilization Tech

Chad Hurley and Steven Chen, the founders of YouTube, have released a new video creation and sharing app called MixBit. It is similar to other video apps such as Twitter’s Vine and Facebook’s Instagram. The app will allow users to capture 16 seconds of video, while Vine’s maximum is six seconds and Instagram’s limit is 15 seconds. MixBit is different from its competitors in that it allows video editing, but others may soon introduce this feature as well. Continue reading MixBit Takes On Vine and Instagram with Video Sharing App