Meet Vine Magician Nick Mastodon!

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How does local “Vine Magician” Nick Mastodon make so many hilarious Vines?
Read On.

Nick Mastodon Loves Vine | The Social Lights Blog

1. Minneapolis, eh? Where specifically do you hail from? Do you find the people in this great state to be especially nice?
I grew up in Eden Prairie. I find that people are typically nice here, although you’ll find the passive-aggressive undertones in a lot of people. Go figure.
2. So you like Vine, huh?
Yes, I do. It occupies a lot of my time lately.
3. Why?
I find Vine to be an incredibly invaluable tool for creating and displaying various forms of art, music, and entertainment for the world to see. For myself, it started off as an outlet for my quick-wit and random shots of me in a Teletubby costume. Then, I found my niche with the mash-up Vines. That was when people really started to notice me.
4. When did you start using Vine?
I started using Vine a couple of months ago. I had left my job in technology to pursue something where I could better utilize my creativity.
5. How quickly did you gain your 15,000 followers? 
I gained my followers extremely fast once I started making the mash-up Vines. People really seem to enjoy the nostalgia factor, mixed with their favorite songs of today. I found hashtags to be pretty important. The reason for this, is all about maximum exposure. Once roughly 25 people have ‘liked’ a post in a short amount of time (less than a half-hour or so), it will likely get featured on the Popular section. I believe Vine is now enforcing a 12-hour time limit on this section now, which makes a lot of sense.
No endorsements from anyone. Just a crazy imagination, impeccable timing, and an eye and ear for what works (and what doesn’t). Something unique about me is that I came out of nowhere, and that my sudden success has come from making funny and entertaining Vines. Case in point, I had less than 100 followers on Twitter before I started using Vine. I’m quickly approaching 15,000 followers on Vine, and I was honored to have Emily Pritchard as #14,490!
6. What do you like most about Vine?
You have 6-seconds to tell a story. If you can do something truly entertaining in such a short amount of time, you’re doing something right. It’s the same reason why long-winded jokes have the potential of losing the audiences’ attention.
7. What types of Vines do you find to be most successful?
For me, definitely the mash-up types. I have started to mix things up with mashing up two movies, tv shows, etc. On the surface, it sounds obscure. When in reality, it works.
8. Which of your 491 posts are you most proud of?
It’s a tie between Mary Poppins mashed-up with Soulja Boy, and my 10,000 follower Vine. My fans seem to enjoy when I appear in my Vines. In fact, along with being featured in an article on Mashable, I was also listed as one of “7 Random Hunks to Follow On Vine” in Papermagazine. Super flattering.
9. Do you follow a particular process?
My process isn’t complicated at all. I sit at my computer, look through videos on YouTube, searching for a clip that I can mash-up with an appropriate (or inappropriate) song. I’ll jot down ideas occasionally. Otherwise, it’s usually on the spot. When I find something that seems to work, I’ll have it up on Vine in no time at all.
10. What’s next?
I’m not sure what’s next for me. I have been incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity to network with influential and highly creative individuals. Finding a job is a priority at the moment. {Oh hey, Nick Mastodon, you should check out our Social Media Community Manager Training Program, here: http://bit.ly/TheSocialLightsMSP}
Closing Remarks: Vine is here to stay in my opinion. 6-seconds is the average attention span these days anyway! It’s a new platform and people are adopting it at a rapid rate. It’s #1 on the App Store for a reason.

And now, follow Nick Mastodon on Vine!
Warning: your attention will be diverted for way longer than 6-seconds whilst you scroll through his hundreds of vids while literally laughing out loud…
Then, become a fan of his Facebook Page and check out his YouTube Channel.

You can tweet him, too. He usually tweets back.

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Background on The Social Lights
The Social Lights® is a social-first agency headquartered in Minneapolis that partners with clients to grow their business through strategy development, creative production, media buying, and social media management. Current clients include General Mills, Ecolab, Cargill, Caribou Coffee, Kwik Trip, Polaris and Massage Envy. The Social Lights was founded in 2011 and is a WBENC-Certified Women Business Enterprise. Learn more at The Social Lights.

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