By Isabelle Docto
Tourists watched curiously as a growing crowd of cellphone-armed teenagers took over Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday, Oct. 5, preparing to record the most important six seconds of their lives.
The screams that erupted from the mob were not for the Biebs or One Direction, but for the excitement of being in a Vine video with some of the most famous personalities the video-sharing app has bred.
Among the huge crowd that participated in what was called a “supervine”—a massive gathering and recording of Vine enthusiasts—were Ryerson in tune with this new media craze.
“It’s another creative way to make a video and another way to get your ideas out there,” said Madonna Dennis, a first-year Ryerson journalism student.
Fans were ecstatic to meet the famous Viners in person; many took out their phones to take photos or even make individual Vines with them.
“It’s important, not for the people that come, but for the Viners to integrate with the fans,” said Nando Rueola, a first-year radio and television arts student at Ryerson.
Ray Ligaya, a musician from Windsor, was one of the trending Vine personalities able to summon hundreds of fans to be in one of his six-second Vines.
Ligaya said that he found out about the app through some friends on his birthday and proceeded to try it out the next day at work. His comedic videos started amassing likes and, next thing he knew, he had acquired 365,000 adoring followers.
“I think Vine is one of the biggest media platforms right now,” said Ligaya. “Back in April and May, Vine was kind of new. Now everyone knows about vine. It blew up like any other social media platform.”
Ligaya said that what differentiates Vine from other media outlets like YouTube and Instagram is all of the meaning that you can put into a mere six seconds of video.
“Putting an idea into six seconds of video is actually really hard. When I went to Florida and Vined with (other well-known Viners), it took us two hours to do,” he said.
Other famous Viners like Jessi Smiles, Jerry Purpdrank, Max JR, Christian DelGrosso, Piques, Esa Fungtastic, Nelcam, JehReh, and Nampaikid were also in Toronto for the supervine.
“Sometimes people don’t like watching long videos,” Rueola said. “So I think Vine is going to get bigger.”
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