The photo-sharing application Instagram may be adding video capability come June 20, industry analysts suggested on Monday.

As recent as Sunday, rumors were flying around the web that Facebook was about to announce a new RSS-reading tool to replace the dying Google Reader. The speculation was caused by the nature of the invites Facebook sent out for an upcoming June 20 press event, snail-mail cards giving little indication as to what sort of announcement the press event would reveal.

Now, however, it seems the rumor mill is shifting away from the RSS theory and on to a new conjecture, this one concerning Facebook’s popular Instagram subsidiary. Similar to Instagram’s current model, which allows users to snap photos and select interesting color filters to give them a unique spin, a video update would let users post short video snippets and share them with friends.

Instagram has, as of yet, offered no indication or confirmation that a big update is on the way. However, recent news leaks have suggested that the company is in the process of testing new video functions, and considering the recent surge of popularity for Vine, Twitter’s similarly-minded video-sharing app, it would be a mistake for Instagram to miss out on the growing market for video.

Like Vine, Instagram’s video application would only support short videos, between five and 1o seconds in length. Vine currently supports six-second videos, but the brevity of the clips has hardly stunted the application’s popularity or its meteoric growth. The app just launched in January (with iOS compatibility), and the unveiling of an Android version earlier this month sent Vine spiraling up the ladder of the social media world. In recent weeks, Vine’s videos have seen more traction on Twitter than Instagram photos, suggesting that the latter has a bit of catching up to do.

But even without a video application, Instagram has a strong foothold on Facebook that Vine really cannot touch. The Instagram phenomenon has exploded in popularity since Facebook purchased the company for a cool $715 million last year, and the integration between the two social media networks means Vine will have a tough time gaining presence on Facebook, if and when Twitter tries to go that route. Furthermore, if Instagram grabs its own video function before Vine is even supported by Facebook, it’s possible that Vine could remain an exclusively Twitter-based entity. After all, if Instagram users can share photos and videos through one application, what need is there for a separate app that only supports video clips?

If Facebook wants to shut out Vine, though, there are probably multiple reasons for it. As of right now, the company has still not bundled advertising with the application. A video service could help attract advertisers, but could also represent the sort of wide-scale overhaul necessary to monetize Instagram without offending or scaring away current users.