The Original Short-Video Loop App, Vine
It’s 2013 and your friend just sent you a new funny Vine to watch. You loop it over and over again laughing historically, instantly sending back your favorite Vine meme as a reply. However, now its 2021 and you do not have Vines to share with your friends anymore, but short-videos loops are everywhere. Vine was first introduced in 2012, and shortly sold to Twitter afterwards. The app first launched on iOS and Android devices in 2013, becoming the most downloaded app and changing social media platforms as we know it. In December of 2016 Vine stopped creators from being able to create content, becoming a standalone service. A few months later the platform was then renamed as “Vine Camera”. Vine had a major impact on the digital history of social media. Short-loop videos, also referred to as micro vlogs, are becoming almost essential across all social media platforms. As we see today, short-loop videos are featured on Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook.
Vine, the original short-video loop app, was a place where normal people became famous and grew their social media platforms. Who remembers King Bach, Brittany Furlan, Nash Greier and Cameron Dallas? Many of these content creators, who started their career on Vine, have become singers, actors and professional social media influencers. While also being featured in countless movies and TV shows. I chose this platform to evaluate because I remember watching countless Vines growing up. My friends and I use to send each other Vines of our favorite creators and find new memes to have as inside jokes. I believe that Vine was one of the first social media platformsthat allowed creators to really show their personalities and be themselves. I also believe it allowed for more of a genuine and raw connection between the viewer and creator as it was more than a picture, but a quick video. That is why I feel TikTok has been so successful, because it isn’t about being “perfect”, like Instagram seems too often focus on. TikTok shifts its focus to more personality and humor, which attracts a genuine connection.
There are many theories as to why Vine had to come to an end, such as did Twitter mismanage what could’ve been the most popular social media app? As TikTok, a similar short-video loop platform, is the new it social media platform. Twitter quickly acquired Vine after it was created, and their reason for purchasing the platform was a strategic move in the hopes of using Vine to grow Twitter’s brand and business. Vine’s personal brand was not Twitter’s priority. Twitter also came out with its own video capability, losing a reason to hang onto Vine.
Vine also encountered a lot of monetization problems. The monetization problem did not relate to creators not being able to generate a profit, however the problems were related directly to Vine. Many of Vine’s top content creators had direct sponsorships yet Vine itself never received sponsorships, or had the opportunity to incentivize their clients to stay on their platform. However, Vine was very much intimidated by their larger social media competitors. Instagram, a big competitor with deep pockets, introduced a 15-second video feature which was also detrimental Vine’s platform.
Many may wonder if Vine had all these problems, why is TikTok thriving? The concept behind both platforms is very similar. TikTok allows for up to a 60-second video where Vine allowed for a 6-second video. As discussed previously, Vine was not a priority for Twitter, or generated much profit either. TikTok is being treated as a priority by its parent company, ByteDance, and features ads which generates a profit.
Works Cited
Herrman, John. “Vine Changed the Internet Forever. How Much Does the Internet Miss It?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/style/byte-vine-short-video-apps.html.
Failory. Why Did Vine Shut Down? Here Are the 5 Main Reasons!, Failory, 18 Mar. 2021, www.failory.com/cemetery/vine.