IN BRIEF: Instagram look-a-like app focuses on video aspect

<p><em>Breanna Daugherty is a sophomore photojournalism major and writes ‘In BRiEf’ for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper or The Daily. Write to Breanna at bldaughtery2@bsu.edu.</em></p>

Breanna Daugherty is a sophomore photojournalism major and writes ‘In BRiEf’ for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper or The Daily. Write to Breanna at bldaughtery2@bsu.edu.

Breanna Daugherty is a sophomore photojournalism major and writes ‘In BRiEf’ for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper or The Daily. Write to Breanna at bldaugherty2@bsu.edu.

Breanna Daugherty

An app called Beet may sound like it's about music, but this app, based in Los Angeles, allows users to film their lives in six-second bursts.

The app, Beet, has the look and feel of Instagram with a touch of Snapchat and Vine. The design is very similar to Instagram. Users share their life moments with their friends, and their friends can skip through a video if they don't want to see it, like on Snapchat.

Ideally, the app is for users to watch their year within a few minutes.

Personally, my own videos aren’t that cool to look at, maybe because I haven’t had it for a full year.

It’s a little weird to hear the audio with it, especially because you don’t really know what’s going on in the video.

Co-founder Jonathan Miller was inspired to create the app after a friend studied abroad and asked him to edit short video clips he took of his trip.

However, that’s not all Beet wants its users to use the app for. Miller wants them to use it to remember their lives. from the big moments to the small ones.

“Beet captures the story of who you are,” Miller said a press release by Beet.

I am a photo-based person, so forcing me to use video is something I’m not crazy about.

But hey, maybe other people are.

The app also limits users to only square shooting, which is something else I’m not crazy about because I don’t see life in a square frame.

I do like the idea of Beet, though: the capturing your life and reliving it aspect of it.

Yet while the design is clean and simple, much like Instagram, it’s a bit confusing.

I downloaded Beet for a trip to Indianapolis with friends to test it out. I kept taking videos, writing captions and posting them.

But when I went back to my profile it only showed one video. I was confused as to why my other videos didn’t post.

Then I realized in the top right hand corner, like Snapchat, there was the number of videos I had posted.

Still no sign of the captions though, so I’m not sure why I wrote any, or why that’s an option.

Basically, when you use the app, everything is just one video. But when you go to peoples’ profiles you can specify between videos from 24 hours ago, one week ago, one month ago or opt to watch all of their videos.

Users can comment on videos, but it doesn’t say which video it is on, so I’m confused about which video I’m commenting on.

The otherwise-simple interface is enough to keep me around and keep posting.

To be honest, I never remember to keep up with it. I remember the app toward the end of an event that I’m at, so I don’t record anything.

I also begin to question if it’s something I want to reflect on in a year or so.

I find myself skipping through my videos from my trip to Indianapolis because they’re just pan shots of art.

Maybe I’ll remember to record six seconds of the next big thing I’m at.

Maybe I’ll keep this app around for a while, despite my lack of love for six-seconds of square video.

Rating: 3.5/5

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