On October 30, 2016 Twitter announced their choice to discontinue the mobile phone application, Vine. Although they did not release the exact date of Vine’s termination from the app store, it was made evident that it will be in the near future.
In a press release Team Vine and Twitter clarified that they will be keeping the website running and accessible for users to “watch all the incredible Vines that have been made.” If the app or website is subject to change the people will be notified first.
In regards as to why the video creating app has been shut down, no right answer has been reported. Several theories have been made trying to figure this out. The lack of user activity seems to be the most apparent reason. “Our data shows that more than half (52%) of the platform’s top users (those with 15,000 followers or more) have left the platform as of January 1, 2016. There are 9,725 users on Vine that have more than 15,000 followers, putting them in the 99th percentile, and 5,094 of them have not posted on the platform since the beginning of this year,” said a report done by Markerly (To view Markerly’s full data study on vine exodus, click here).
Some believe that this decline in activity on the app is due to Instagram’s new feature allowing users to post videos ranging from 3 seconds to 1 minute long. Being able to use one app to post pictures AND videos might seem easier and attract more people to use Instagram while straying them from an app that only allows for videos like Vine.
Another possible reason why Vine users aren’t logging on to the app could be because of the lack of need to. On Twitter, users are able to see Vines while scrolling through their feed that other people have tweeted. This makes the process of logging on to watch the Vines practically unnecessary. Due to the high numbers of Vines made when the app first came out, people are still finding Vines that they have never watched before.
Sam Merritt, a senior at Leesville, created a Vine account soon after it was released to the public. Merritt posted very few original videos but used to the app mainly to watch other use’rs Vines. He rarely goes on to the app now but continues to see Vines through Twitter.
“I used to love Vine; it was so funny, but eventually I will have seen pretty much all the funny Vines and won’t be able to see any new ones. I mean I don’t think they should take it down because of lot of people have gotten famous from Vine, so I think people will keep posting videos on there,” said Merritt.
Shawn Mendes, an 18-year-old recording artist, started his career by posting vines of him singing covers of songs. Mendes quickly gained popularity and now has two albums that both reached the top of US Billboard 200.
Although Vine will no longer be available in the app store, the website and past Vines will remain. Those who love watching Vines don’t have to fear the entire extinction of the app… for now. But, as one app goes down, another is sure to pop up. So the question is, what’s next?
Leave a Reply