Myspace launched the career of several stars like the UK’s Lily Allen and known MTV personality Tila Tequila, while Youtube further the digitalized online stage by enabling it users to post videos of themselves covering hit songs, parodying hit films, or failing at doing day-to-day things. Now there’s a new social media platform drawing attention and it’s called Vine, and the new app frenzy has garnered some Latinos celebrity status.
Vine debut back in January, and since its launch the easy to use mobile video app has become the go to app to watch numerous celebrities and ordinary citizens who post videos of comedic sketches, pranks which involve screaming loudly to scare nearby friends or family, and “grinding” upon things to Pretty Ricky’s song “Grind on Me.”
This community of “Viners” isn’t easy to get into, and most of the contributions to the site are made by “vine verified” which is a privileged title given to users who post numerous of videos and have quite the following. Amongst the royal Viners are several Latinos who are receiving recognition throughout the web and in the real world itself.
With over 2.6 million users, Rudy Mancuso, or @RudyMancuso, Mancuso is the 12th most followed Viner, according to TMZ.
With such skits as Mi Madre which features his actual mother, Speedo Simone an authentic lover of the mighty sea, and the Hispanic Superman it isn’t surprising Mancuso has attracted attention. Along with his creative skits, Mancuso also parodies Apple’s Siri by using a CubanAccent.
One of Mancuso’s latest Vine celebrates the upcoming holiday season:
Outside of Vine, Mancuso has appeared on Univision and has made a jingle for Trident gum.
Just under Mancuso’s 2.6 million and some followers, Jessi Smiles or @JessiSmiles is estimated to have about 2.5 million and is considered to be one of the funniest ladies on the app.
The Miami native was interviewed by Fusion, a joint venture by ABC and Univison, and said how in high school she was always the funny girl but thanks to her Vine she is now the popular girl.
Using her wittiness and charismatic humor, the Cuban-American beauty draws attention from her looks by constantly posting fails at being sexy, in the video below Smiles demonstrates just that:
How you think you dance in front of your crush Vs. How you dance in your room
“I know in L.A. or Times Square there are a lot of people but I did not expect to be recognized with huge sunglasses on,” said Smiles, about how her internet attention is earning her public recognition.
Becoming an internet sensation, Smiles has had a celebrity appearance in one of her videos which featured record producer Pharrell Williams.
And now from California with just about 1.6 million or so followers, David Lopez has an estimated 500 video posts of various skits. Some of Lopez’s popular skits are his parody of Paranormal Activates, The Thug Life, and The Life of Juan.
The latter series of skits is a character created by Lopez named Juan. Lopez usually posts vines of Juan’s the daily adventures and sometimes misfortunes of a Mexican man living in the United States.
Similar to Sarah Silverman, Lopez uses his strong sense of humor to play on stereotypes ascribed to Mexicans, seemingly mock them, and has Juan sing of such stereotypes along with hit songs.
Listen to Juan singing his name to the sound of the Ting Ting’s That’s Not My Name:
Real Mexicans. That Is My Name.
To watch more of these Vines, or to discover more Latinos posting, just download the app or visit the app’s website to see what other funny user videos are being uploaded!
