Vine releases a direct messaging feature

Vine today unveiled its direct messaging feature which will allow users to send videos in a private message to friends. Friends can also reply directly with more videos or text.

The direct messaging feature also allows Vine users to send messages to anyone, even if they aren’t on Vine. These videos will end up as an SMS or email instead.

Each direct message counts as a one-to-one conversation, but users can select multiple recipients when sending their Vine Message (VM).

Conversely, Vine users can also opt to only receive private messages from added friends or followers. The addition of this feature is an obvious nod to Snapchat, Instagram Direct, and most recently, Bebo’s Blab - but only Vine lets you send messages to users outside of the app.

The VM update is now live on both iOS and Android.