In today’s media environment it’s important that news organizations actively seek out audience, and with its 40 million registered users, Vine is a social media platform worth considering.

But who is using it well and what can journalists learn from their experience?  The Reynolds Journalism Institute produced a video case study on Mashable’s use of Vine.  Some of the takeaways include:

• Use Vine promotionally.  At Mashable, the bulk of the Vines produced are intended to promote content.  These “teases” work particularly well for highly visual stories.
• Vine can work for breaking news as Mashable’s Ashley Codiani found during coverage of protests in Ferguson, Missouri.  She captured snapshots of the demonstrators and edited them together for a :06 view of the intensity of the situation.
• Mashable has also used Vine to promote engagement by creating “community challenges.”  The create a unique hashtag and then ask for the Vine community to contribute riffs on a theme, such as one asking people to document the world in slow motion.  Mashable has also had success in generating revenue by attaching sponsors to the challenges.

The second half of the video explores the Washington Post’s politics team and their use of SnapChat for engaging audience.