Vine just got private with new direct messaging feature

Vine private message
Clearly some things on Vine should not be made public

Vine has pushed out a new feature that lets users send one another private, direct messages.

Given that Vine is owned by Twitter, it was only a matter of time before this happened.

Now users can communicate directly with their friends using short videos and text messages without needing to broadcast their karaoke night or striptease to everyone who follows them.

Because sometimes, just sending someone a text isn't enough, and you need to say it with video.

Tap and hold

To reply to a Vine video message you only need to tap and hold on the screen, much like recording a Vine in the first place.

With the privacy conversation more heated than ever its no surprise that Vine is following the lead of services like Twitter and Instagram in setting up private messages.

Interestingly, Vine users can send private videos to anyone in their Vine network or contacts list, even if the recipient doesn't use Vine.

But you need to verify your phone number with Vine to send messages to users who don't follow you, and they'll be able to easily ignore those messages, as they appear in a separate inbox.

And you can send a private Vine message to multiple users, but the service currently does not support group messaging, so you'll get multiple one-on-one convos instead.

Vine messaging is available now in the latest version of the Vine app on iOS and Android.

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.