Instagram's short 'Boomerang' videos aim to hook users

New feature allows users to post one-second video "loops"

Instagram unveiled a new feature allowing users to post one-second video "loops" in an effort to keep up with rivals offering animated images.

"Boomerang" is a new video application "that lets you turn everyday moments into something fun and unexpected," the Facebook-owned picture-sharing network said in a blog post.

"Capture a friend jumping off a diving board, defying physics as she flies back and forth through the air.

Transform an ordinary selfie with your friends into a funny video.Get that exact moment your friend blows out his birthday candles, then watch them come back to life again and again."

The Instagram feature is shorter than the six-second video segments on Twitter-owned Vine but aims for a richer experience than animated images known as GIFs.

"Boomerang takes a burst of photos and stitches them together into a high-quality mini video that plays forward and backward," Instagram said.

Instagram said recently its user base has climbed past the 400-million-user mark, but it is facing intense competition with other services such as Snapchat, which is popular among young smartphone users.