A tribute to the best vine ever made: “Guys Bein’ Dudes”

On January 17th last year Twitter, in a controversial move, officially shut down Vine, the star-gazed social media networking app that propelled many regular teens into stardom and fame, and that filled many of our boring teenage lives with fun.

If you flick through YouTube's catalogue of vine compilations, you'll be reminded of the fleeting comedic value that a vine Video had. It only took a mere six seconds to induce someone into a crippling and unavoidable fit of laughter.

There were many classics produced on this app. 'Can I get a waffle?', 'Two bros chilling in a hot tub', 'What are those?!', 'Damn Daniel!', 'Look at all those chickens' to name a few of masterpieces. But only one four-second film tops the list as the best vine that has and will ever be created.

On June 20th, 2013, a man by the name of Steve Addazio, head coach of the Boston College football team, released a four second clip onto the online platform, titled "Camp" – it was only his sixth post on the platform.

In this video, only seven words are said. A seemingly rhetorical question (What's better than this?) followed by a reply (Guys bein' dudes). The video features Steve standing, left leg forward, in a gigantic stadium, behind student athletes playing football. He's wearing New Balance's, presumably high socks, beige kaki trousers, and a tucked-in red polo – a classic Dad fit.

That's it. That's the whole video. Four whole seconds of it.

A moment like this comes, it feels like, but once in a lifetime, and for this to have been recorded and put online to be watched some 35 million times is nothing short of a miracle. It is above all a marvel of cinema. It is organic. His awkward standing position and stuttered voice seem true to his friendly character. Yes, this Vine was almost certainly scripted, but this doesn't take away from its comedic value. He seems awkward, yet comfortable. Steve is just a guy, or a dude, who wants to share a simple message with the world.

This Vine speaks to the American inside all of us. Once you've replayed this Vine some 20 times you start to wonder what is better than this. Sun beaming down, polos and kakis, American football, Boston, the American Dream. You question what a dude really means in the grand scheme of things. Is a dude an aspiration? A role model? A higher power? And how does one turn from being a guy to a dude?

"Guys bein' dudes" has the power to produce laughter, but also a reflection on Steve Addazio and dudes. It is hard to wholy summarise the key things that make this Vine into the art piece that it is, but rather it is best to just watch and replay. It may not take words to describe this as the best Vine that has ever and will ever be created – it just is.

Many can show appreciation for this great cinematic marvel. As a YouTube comment on the Vine elegantly summarises:

"The reason this vine has become popular is hard to formulate. A good start would be to call the whole thing "awkward". He is wearing a stereotypical dad outfit, he is facing the other direction and is made to turn around as he speaks, the flick of his hand is noncommittal, he is expressing something which many of us are familiar with but fail to articulate, namely, appreciation for a happy and organic moment: What's better than this? Just guys bein' dudes. But awkward says too little, because it tends to emphasize the man's failure without taking into account how endearing (or "cute") he is and how much we sympathize with him. "