Vine is a video sharing app that allows users to record and share videos up to 6-seconds long. The videos automatically loop as they are viewed, and other users can “like”, “comment”, or “revine” videos, which means they can add them to their own timeline for their followers to see (similar to Twitter Retweets). Videos can also be shared on Facebook or Twitter.

 

What parents need to know...

 

• Vine is free, and it's easy to sign up. Unlike paid apps where you get a receipt from iTunes if your child downloads the app, it's likely that you won't even know your child is on Vine unless you monitor them online. Once the app downloads, all you need to sign up is an e-mail address or a Twitter account.

 

• Vine doesn't verify age. Vine's privacy policy states that the "services are not directed towards persons under 13", but there isn't any sort of system in place to verify age. Vine does agree to take steps to cancel the account of minors if a parent reaches out to them, which is the same as Twitter's policy.

 

• You can't block who follows you on Vine. As of now, there's no option to create private videos on Vine and there are no privacy settings. Anyone can follow you (or your child) and anyone can view your videos. And your child can browse anyone else's videos.

 

• It's true. There's pornography on Vine. Videos that are inappropriate are marked as such and covered with a gray box covering the content, but it only takes a click to get through. It's possible that you can scroll down your Vine stream and catch a video before it gets tagged, and catch a glimpse of something (seriously) vulgar.

 

• The 6-second videos are cool to watch -- and make. Even with Vine's challenges, it's a neat app that encourages creativity (and lets you make an endless supply of GIFs ). If your child is 13 or over and with appropriate monitoring from you, they can probably have a lot of fun with it.