There's been a lot of excitement this week about Twitter’s brand new micro-video app, Vine. Although much of the buzz so far has been about Vine's seedier side, there’s also been some discussion about its usefulness to journalists.

A social app that allows users to film looping six-second videos and post them to Twitter, Vine gives journalists an easy way to record and upload quick video hits of news and events. A post from Poynter predicts the app will be a boon for real-time reporting – video has an immediacy that suits news reportage and it's much more difficult to fake than photographs.

A post from Pando Daily predicts that Vine will lead to new ways of storytelling. The time constraint and audio component offer huge potential for creativity and give journalists and bloggers a new way to “expand their ‘personal brand’ beyond the photo byline or Twitter avatar.”

Advertisers are already jumping on Vine as a way of delivering quick, playful ad snippets. So far, almost everyone else seems to be using it to post six-second videos of cute cats and their lunch.

It’s currently only available for iPhone but once they've worked out the kinks and made it available on more platforms, Vine may become a serious tool for journalists and a new medium for creative communication. As soon as we've all got the kitty videos out of our system, anyway.

Have you tried Vine yet? Do you think it could have a lasting impact on journalism and online storytelling?