Vine messages FAQ

*A Vine message (VM) is a private video (up to 6 seconds long) or text conversation between two users.

Note: Only iOS 6+ and Android 4.0+ devices are able to send and receive VMs.

To access VMs:

Tap the speech bubble icon . Here you will see VMs that have been sent to you. You can tap on an individual VM to open that conversation.

To send a VM:

1. Tap the speech bubble icon .
2. Capture your VM by tapping the camera icon  located on the bottom bar.
3. When you are finished, tap on the right facing arrow located at the top right of the screen.
4. Preview your Vine and add text if you’d like. Adding text is optional.
5. Tap Next.
6. Select who you want to receive your VM.

To reply to a VM:

You can respond to a VM in several ways:

• You can quickly reply to a VM by tapping and holding the camera icon . Your reply will be sent as soon as you let go. If you don’t want to send your reply, swipe up.
• Tapping the camera will allow you to capture a VM to send back.
• You can also tap the chat icon on the bottom right to send a text-only response.

The difference between friends and others:

There are two tabs in your VM inbox, Friends and Other. The Friends tab contains VMs from accounts that match any of the below or a combination of the following:

• You follow this account on Vine
• You follow the Twitter account associated with this Vine account (requires that both you and the sender have Twitter accounts associated)
• You have this person’s phone number in your address book (requires that you have your address book saved with Vine and that the sender’s phone number has been verified).

Other contains VMs from users outside of your network and do not meet any of the above criteria. You can move someone from your Other inbox to Friends by following them on Vine. Tap the [•••] on the top right of your conversation and select Follow User.

Uploading your address book:

Uploading your address book makes it easier to find and connect with your friends. It also helps us deliver messages to your Friends inbox. You can disable storage of your contacts from your Settings.

Disabling your Other inbox:

You can disable VMs from people outside your network  by navigating to your Settings. Tap on Your content and make sure the Open VM inbox is disabled. This will only allow accounts that you follow on Vine, you follow on Twitter (requires that both you and the sender have Twitter accounts associated), and people you have in your address book (requires that you have your address book saved with Vine and that the sender’s phone number has been verified) to send you VMs.

Sending VMs to your contacts via SMS or email:

You can send VMs to the email address or phone number of a friend who may not be on Vine yet.

1. Capture your VM and then tap Next on the preview screen.
2. Tap on the Address Book.
3. Select the recipients or manually add in a phone number or email address. Depending on your contacts, each recipient will have either a telephone or letter icon, or both, next to their name. The telephone means the VM will be delivered via SMS, while contacts with the letter icon will receive the VM via email. For contacts with both, you’ll be able to choose which method you prefer.
4. Tap Send.

If you try to send a VM to the confirmed email address or phone number of someone who is already on Vine, we’ll create a conversation directly between your accounts on Vine. If your friend does not have a confirmed phone number, we’ll give you a link to send them via SMS. If your friend doesn’t have a confirmed email address, we’ll send them a link to your VM directly. For more information on what your friend will see when they click your link, please see Receiving VMs via Email or SMS.

Video Messaging FAQs:

Why am I being asked to verify my phone number?

Having a verified phone number ensures that when someone tries to send a VM to your phone number we will be able to route the VM correctly to your Vine account. Having a verified phone number also helps us deliver VMs you send to the Friends inbox of your friends. You are also be required to have a verified phone number to send a message to someone who doesn’t follow you.

Why did my VM fail to send?

When sending a VM to someone who does not follow you, we require you to verify your phone number. To do this:

1. Tap on the exclamation mark icon under the VM you are trying to send.
2. Tap continue.
3. Enter your phone number and tap Next.
4. Enter the confirmation code that is texted to you.

Note: if you don’t receive a text with a confirmation code verify that you entered the correct phone number. If the number is correct, tap on resend confirmation text.

How do I stop receiving VMs from someone?

If you no longer wish to receive VMs from a specific account you can block or ignore that account.

Blocking an account will prevent the user from following you and viewing your profile, but they will still be able to view and comment on your videos that appear in popular results for search tags.

To block an account:

1. Navigate to the account’s profile by tapping on the three dots icon [•••] located at the top of the VM thread.
2. Tap the three dots icon [•••] at the right of the top menu bar
3. Select Block this person.

Ignoring a user’s VMs means that future VMs from that account will not appear in your messages. Ignoring a user’s VMs will not block the account.

To ignore a user’s VMs:

1. Tap the three dots icon [•••] located at the top right of the screen.
2. Tap Ignore.
3. Confirm you would like to ignore VMs from this account.

Note: If you send a VM to an account you’ve ignored, then the ignore will be undone.

Can I unsend a VM that I already sent?

Once you have sent a VM, you cannot unsend it.

How do I delete a VM or a VM thread?

You have the option to delete individual VMs or entire VM threads. Deleting a VM or VM thread will remove those messages from your device only.

To delete a VM or a VM within a thread:

1. Locate the VM you would like to delete, tap on it, and hold until delete appears.
2. Tap on delete and confirm your would like to delete that VM.

To delete a VM thread:

1. Open the thread you would like to delete.
2. Tap on the three dots icon [•••] located at the top of the screen.
3. Tap Delete thread and then confirm you would like to delete the thread.

How do I unsubscribe from getting VMs sent to my email address?

You may unsubscribe from VM emails from Vine by clicking on the unsubscribe at the bottom of the email.

If you have a Vine account, you can confirm your email address from your Settings. This will allow you to respond to the user who sent you a VM and will allow attempts to send VMs to your email address to create conversations in Vine instead.

What do I do if I get a spam VM?

If you believe you received a spam VM you can delete the message from your inbox by tapping on the post and holding down until Delete appears. Tap delete and confirm. You can also ignore VMs from that account, which will prevent further messages from that account appearing in your inbox in the future. You can find instructions on how to ignore VMs above.

You can also report a user for spam by navigating to the user’s profile and tapping the three dots icon [•••] at the top right. From there you can tap Report as spam.