Ian Padgham explains how he cracked the new social network. And why he decided to go pro.
Ian Padgham / Via vine.co
With nearly 300,000 followers, Ian Padgham is one of the most popular non-celebrites on Vine. His daily posts are a mix of silly humor and stop-motion whimsy and have won him a large audience and frequent mentions as a top Vine user to follow. Until last Friday, he was working full-time as an in-house video producer for Twitter but after multiple offers from brands, Padgham has decided to head out on his own to make Vines professionally. BuzzFeed recently spoke to Padgham about the strange appeal of Twitter's still-young video app, his approach to making Vines, and exactly what he's thinking as he prepares to leave his job.
First off, when did you find out about Vine?
Ian Padgham: I found out right as it came out. I think I might have seen it the day before (since I was working at Twitter), but essentially from day one I was up and rolling.
What about Vine clicked for you?
IP: Well, there's a lot of stuff. Certainly the simplicity, not having many options is a bonus. Also, being a full-time video maker, it's delightful to produce a video and post it in a matter of minutes. You don't have to spend days or weeks thinking it over. You just tap the screen, do something fun, and experiment.
So the simplicity is what appealed to you?
IP: Definitely. There's something astounding about the way the human mind works when given limitations. Vine is so simple, it has so few options, but then you see all of the incredibly magical content that people have been able to create with so little. I think it speaks to our creativity and our ability to see less as more, to produce great things out of what looked like nothing.
