Trying to figure this thing out? Wouldn’t it be good if life had a help page? Someone should work on that. As far as 12seconds goes, let’s get to helping.

Helpful Q & A (we hope)

What is 12seconds?
12seconds is the best place online for video status updates. It's a super easy way to share what you're doing with your friends and family using short video clips. You can use your web cam or mobile phone. Show your friends where you are, share your thoughts, or tell them how you're doing. We are building a video status platform that will help you keep up to date with your friends 12 seconds at a time.

Why only 12 seconds?
Because anything longer is boring. The scientists here at the 12seconds dodecaplex have conducted countless hours of research to determine the precise amount of time it takes for boredom or apathy to set in during typical Internet video viewing. Our patent pending Electro-Tear-Duct Prongers have determined that exactly 12 seconds of video is the ideal amount of time to keep anything interesting.

How do I use it?
Using 12seconds is simple. Using your browser, mobile phone or any other video recording device you can record and upload 12s to 12seconds.tv. Your videos will be displayed in the public stream and in the streams of your followers. You can then share your videos with all your friends and family, post them to your Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed accounts and even embed them into your blog or websites.

How do I delete or edit the information of a video I posted?
If you want to delete or edit a video, just click on that video's title wherever you see it on the site. For example, click on "Your Channel" to view all of your videos, then click any video title to go that video's page. While on that page and logged in, you should see edit and delete buttons below the video title/tag/location information.

Who can see my videos?
Your 12s will go directly into the Public Timeline, into your Channel and into your follower's feeds. 

Can I record longer than 12seconds?
Nope.

Can I record shorter than 12seconds?
Nope. (But, if you're using a mobile phone or you upload a file and it's less than 12 seconds, we'll still post it)

How can I view 12s on my mobile phone?
You can access the 12seconds mobile site on your phone by going to: http://m.12seconds.tv
Or by using our iPhone application which you can download through the App Store. You can find more information on that here: http://12seconds.tv/mobile
 
What does it mean to follow someone on 12seconds?
When you follow someone, their updates will show up on your "Recent Updates" feed. When someone follows you, they'll see all your updates in their feed.

How do I know who I'm following and who's following me?
From the "Home" screen under the "My People" section, click on "Followers." There you'll see each member who is following your 12s.  

What are @replies?
Inspired by twitter, @replies are used to direct a video or message at a specific user. So if you were to record a 12 that you wanted directed at a fellow 12second user, you would put @username (replace "username" with your friend's username) in the title.
 
What are the tiny12.tv links all about?
Tiny12 is our URL shortening domain. We generate a tiny12.tv URL for each video record. These links are much smaller and easier to share with friends on twitter and Facebook then the standard URL.
 
Can I put my 12seconds videos on my blog?
Yes, go to our http://12seconds.tv/widgets page to get the code to embed various widgets into your website. We also generate an individual embed code for each video you record which you can find on your video's page.

Who decides the winner of the daily challenges?
Currently the winner is decided by 12seconds employee's but that may change in future updates.

What's the deal with "Awards"...how I get some?
Awards are special prizes given out for completing various tasks. For example: users win a Challenge Award for winning a Daily Challenge and everyone who posts 101 video's gets the 20:21 award. Occasionally we'll give out awards for posting on special days such as Halloween or 12/12. Make sure to read our newsletters to find out about upcoming awards.

Is there a 12seconds API?
Yes! To view our API, go to our http://12seconds.tv/developers page where you can learn more about it as well as find out who is currently using it.

How can I get some sweet 12seconds gear?
Visit our online store at http://www.zazzle.com/itsbeach

I love 12seconds and want to keep in touch with Team 12.
Read our blog: http://12seconds.wordpress.com/
Follow us on twitter (12seconds)
Join our Facebook group.

I can’t get my web cam to work.
Try adjusting the recorder settings on your 12seconds home page. You may need to select “USB Video Class Video” instead of “DV Video”. If you have a camcorder plugged into your Firewire port, then select “IIDC FireWire Video”.Make sure you click “Allow” and “Remember” then “Close” when you initially set up the web cam recorder. If you need to access the Flash Web Cam Recorder settings again, right click (ctrl click for mac) on the recorder and they should appear. If you are still having trouble, make sure that no other applications or web pages are trying to use your web cam.

How do I record and share video with my mobile phone?
Find out more info on our mobile features here - http://12seconds.tv/mobile

I have an iPhone and it doesn’t record video for some stupid reason.
Try out our new iPhone application! Find out more info about it here.

Where is my unique email upload address?
Your unique email upload address is located on your settings page and also on your logged in home page. All addresses start with “12+” so make sure you include the entire address when you send your clips

How do I find and follow friends?
12seconds is super duper with friends. Click “find friends” at the top of the page to locate or invite your friends to 12seconds. You can search for people by name, user name, and location. You can also check to see who is on 12seconds that you follow on Twitter or who happen to be in your email address book. You may also invite your friends to join. Look for the invite link on the “find friends” page.

Where can I report bugs and problems with the site?
Report any issues you are having on our Get Satisfaction page. http://getsatisfaction.com/12seconds

I have a great idea for 12seconds, where do I send it?
Post all ideas, suggestions and requests on our uservoice page. It makes it very easy for us to track all of them and implement them faster.

I think 12seconds is awesome and I want to give you a bunch of money to make it more awesomer!
Awesome! We’d love to take your money. Contact us: info@12seconds.tv