Instagram now will hold movies (well, short subjects)

NEW YORK - Facebook is adding video to its photo-sharing app Instagram, following in the heels of Twitter's video-sharing app Vine.

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said Thursday that users can record and share 15-second clips by tapping a video icon in the app. They can also apply filters to videos to add contrast, and make them black and white or different hues.

"This is the same Instagram we all know and love, but it moves," he said at an event at Facebook Inc. headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.

Vine, which launched in January, has 13 million users and lets people create and share six-second video clips. Instagram has 100 million users, up from 20 million when Facebook bought it more than a year ago. If users like it, Facebook's move could propel mobile video sharing into the mainstream.

To use the video feature, Instagram users who have downloaded the latest version can tap on the camera icon. A new video icon will appear on the right. Tap it and a screen with a red video button will let you record clips of sunsets, children running in parks, or co-workers staring at their computer screens.

The app will record as long as a finger is on the red button or 15 seconds, whichever comes first. Not unlike Vine, taking a finger off the button will stop the recording, allowing the scene to be shot from a different angle or something else to be recorded. Once 15 seconds of footage is recorded, it can be played from the beginning and posted on Instagram to share.

A feature called "cinema" adds stabilization so the videos do not look like shaky amateur shots. Systrom called it "completely mind-blowing." Right now, only owners of the iPhone 4S or 5 can shoot video using this feature.

When Facebook agreed to buy Instagram in April 2012, it offered $1 billion in cash and stock. The value of the deal fell to $715 million by the time the deal closed last August.

Facebook still has not said how it will make money from Instagram, as it has not introduced ads.