Google Area 120's Tangi Offers DIY Guides In 60 Seconds Or Less

How much can you do in 60 seconds? Maybe you can quickly hammer out a tweet (back when they were 140 characters only) or quickly take an impromptu selfie on Instagram in that short span of time. Or you could learn how to do something new instead. It's exactly those small chunks of time that Google's Area 120 skunkworks group is taking advantage of with Tangi, a new social platform that offers 60-second video clips that deliver more substance than a looping TikTok or Boomerang.

The Internet has not only expanded our horizons, it also made it possible to learn things we might have never even encountered in our own cities. There are tons of sites and resources to learn such crafts and skills but sometimes even text and images aren't enough. Sometimes, a short demo video conveys information better than written or illustrated instructions.

That's where Tangi comes in, a short name with a rather convoluted origin ("TeAch aNd GIve", or just "tangible" if you want). There is no shortage of such instructional videos on YouTube, of course, but their length and the buffering they incur, often scares off newbies and people a bit pressed for time. In contrast, Tangi DIY videos are only 60 seconds at most, even less in some cases.

More than just a place to find DIY videos, however, Tangi is also a social network experiment. Think of it as something like Pinterest but video clips rather than static images. Like any other social network, however, its longevity will actually depend on how many of your friends use it. And like any other media service, its success will depend on how many creators make content for it.

For now, Tangi exists both in Web form and as an iOS app with no word yet on an Android version, ironically. Uploading DIY instructional videos, however, is still mostly closed and you'll have to sign up for a waiting list if you want to get in.