Millennials might remember the six-second looping videos on Vine. It used to define internet humor and trends. Do you also want to know what Vine is? What happened to Vine? Why did Vine shut down? Vine was a social media platform. It was started in 2012, and soon became very popular among the younger age groups.
It created global sensations and became the biggest platform of that time. Viral memes and new trends added to its rapidly growing popularity. It rose widely just after one year of establishment, but in 2016, it started to fail and faced severe losses. Want to know the reason?
In this article, I’ll be sharing all the details about why Vine shut down and the rise and fall of Vine. You will also get to know details about its establishment and why Twitter bought it.
What Was Vine?
Vine, a trendy social media app, was founded by Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll in 2012. It got popular with its 6-second video looping feature. It was the first app to think of the short videos feature.
Twitter saw the massive potential. In October 2012, just months before Vine officially launched, Twitter acquired the startup for about $30 million. Twitter’s executives believed Vine could enhance its platform by pairing micro-messages with micro-videos.
The app launched to the public in January 2013. Within months, Vine was the most downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store. By the start of 2013, it had gained its pace and become the best iOS app in the US. Within a year, it gained over 200 million users from all over the world.
The Story Behind Vine
Vine made a new trend with its six-second looping videos. The videos show the creativity of the creators. This gave people a new trend to follow and show their talent globally.
The founders added this feature to encourage people to create quick and creative videos rather than long videos. The loop feature added a viral effect and created a new trend.
In October 2012, Twitter brought it with the aim of creating new audiences. Vine’s short video model perfectly fits with the Twitter short text model for a quick burst of entertainment. Vine videos were embedded on different social platforms like Tumblr, Twitter, and other platforms.
In 2014, Vine added new creators who were faster and funnier, creating more engaging content. With different challenges, comedy videos, and jokes, the platform gained immense popularity.
Celebrities of Vine
- Shawn Mendes started posting covers in 2013. His videos gained millions of views. Soon, he signed a record deal. Today, he is a Grammy-nominated singer.
- Logan Paul and Jake Paul made funny mimics. Their videos collected millions of loops. They later moved to YouTube and TV. Both became well-known entertainers.
- King Bach, also called Andrew Bachelor, made quick comedy shorts. Some even featured celebrity cameos. He became Vine’s most-followed creator with over 16 million fans.
- Lele Pons gained fame with her quirky humor. She later built a big career on YouTube and in acting.
- Cameron Dallas grew popular with sketches. He later turned to modeling and TV.
Other names like Rudy Mancuso, Gabbie Hanna, and Brittany Furlan also rose through Vine. The app disappeared, but it changed online fame forever.
How Vine Worked?
Vine worked by letting users record videos up to six seconds long. The clips played on a loop, giving them a catchy quality. Recording was simple: users pressed and held the screen to capture segments, creating stop-and-go editing effects. This made Vine ideal for comedy, music, and visual tricks that people rewatched endlessly.
Vine’s interface was clean. Users scrolled through feeds filled with looping clips. Hashtags and trending sections boosted discovery. Sharing was easy on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms, helping content spread faster.
But Vine faced a major downfall because of no proper monetization. Unlike YouTube, Vine didn’t share ad revenue with creators. Influencers had to strike brand deals independently. For example, top Vine stars sometimes earned thousands by advertising a product in a video, but this wasn’t available to all creators.
Platforms like YouTube started dominating the market with their monetization structure. Vine failed to support its users, which turned into a great flaw for the company.
What Happened to Vine? When Did Vine Die?
Vine started losing its shine by 2015, while new apps like Snapchat and Instagram grew their market all over the world with better features. In 2010, Instagram was founded, but after 2013, it gained popularity with its 15-second video feature.
Vine was at its rising period in 2014 with millions of users. Vine didn’t keep up with the trend and was left behind. Creators had left, advertisers weren’t interested, and Twitter itself was in trouble. Twitter, after 3 years of acquiring it, officially announced the closure of Vine in October 2016.
Why Did Vine Shut Down?
Many people have questioned, “Why did Vine go away?” Here is the answer:
- Competition: Instagram videos offered more time, and Snapchat introduced interactive features. Both quickly attracted Vine’s audience.
- Lack of Monetization: Vine creators weren’t paid fairly. YouTube offered ad revenue, while Vine did not. This made influencers migrate.
- User Retention Problem: The six-second video felt too restrictive to many of the users.
- Corporate Neglect: Twitter itself was struggling in 2015–2016. With leadership changes and declining stock, Vine was ignored instead of being improved.
- Talent Exodus: Many Vine celebrities started moving to different platforms like YouTube and Instagram by 2016.
Combined, these issues made Vine unsustainable. By late 2016, Vine was already considered irrelevant next to Instagram and Snapchat.
The Shutdown and Current Status
In October 2016, Twitter announced Vine’s shutdown in a blog post. By January 2017, the service had officially closed. The Vine app no longer allowed uploads, but Twitter kept old videos online in an archive.
For some time, users were able to access the videos, but by 2019, all the content was also removed from the site. Today, if you search for the Vine site, you will find a message, “Dear Vine Community – thank you for all the inspiration, laughs, and loops. We have now placed Vine in an archived state.” Still, if you want to watch Vine videos, you can view some of them on YouTube.
Vine’s Legacy That Inspired Many
Vine’s influence didn’t end with its shutdown. In fact, it shaped the next wave of social platforms. TikTok, which launched internationally in 2017, is often considered Vine’s spiritual successor. Unlike Vine, TikTok provided longer videos, better editing tools, and a monetization plan for creators.
Other spin-offs also tried to capture Vine’s magic. Vine’s co-founder, Dom, launched a new app, Byte, in 2020. It was an attempt to start looping shorts culture again, but it didn’t get popular like Vine.
Instagram and YouTube now dominate the short video market. With Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, it’s next to impossible for new apps to sustain without any new and unique features.
The shutdown of Vine is a clear example of market trends and how easily people’s minds shift to different things. But it set an example for many by creating cultural trends and bringing innovation to the new digital era.
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