As the six second video hosting app joins the heap of retired social media giants, along with our former friends Bebo and Old MySpace, it’s with a great sadness that we say goodbye to Vine. Last week Twitter officially announced that Vine is due to be axed in the next coming months after falling short behind competitors such as Twitter, Instagram video and Snapchat. Since its launch in 2013, over 39 million videos have been uploaded with 200 million monthly active users and loops being played more than a trillion times annually. However in recent times, usage has dwindled.
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Whilst many of us have used the site as a source of constant hilarity and ridiculous joy, this obviously means a whole lot more to its big time creators, many of whom have crafted entire careers, friendship groups and networks from their online interactions. And not to mention staff working first hand on the site itself. We spoke to three of our favourite Vine stars to see how they reacted to the devastating news.
Christine Sydelko
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKKQZbqBR5O/
For those who aren’t aware, Christine Sydelko is potentially one of the funniest people on the planet. Earlier this year she became a viral sensation after realising that she looked just like Heimlich the caterpillar on a theme park ride earlier this year and now she has her own TV show starring alongside Elijah Daniels AKA the guy with the tattoo of Donald Trump sucking a dick, called ‘Trash, Talking’.
When she heard the news she was surprised.
I knew user numbers were down but never imagined they’d pull the plug. Even MySpace is still going. A college friend showed me the app when I was recovering from an appendectomy and about 95% of the people I talk to everyday I met through vine. The other 5% are my parents. Vine made me realise I was funny enough to pursue comedy as a career. It’s changed my life forever. Most viners are creative people and if they’re not, they’re at least resourceful. I’m sure they will land on their feet most likely on a different platform.
Her favourite vine:
https://vine.co/v/eMm3nZirPnx
Senan Byrne
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIiLm67A29E/
Although the app wasn’t overly popular over in Ireland, instead mainly achieving success across the pond in the USA, Senan Byrne became Ireland’s number one Vine celebrity thanks to his witty and slightly absurd videos. Earlier this year he became the first international influencer to be featured on Vine’s Creator Spotlight. Just like Christine, Senan was heartbroken at the reality of the app’s closure.
I discovered that a part of me would soon vanish. To disappear forever. That part of me is Vine. To me, Vine isn’t a simple app or social network. It is a community of talented and creative individuals. It is an app filled with love and passion, and something for the past two years I gave my all to. Last year I headlined the app for a week in their first European Creator Spotlight which I’m hugely proud of. I was so lucky to amass an audience of almost 300k and 1/4 billion views. I became Ireland’s biggest Viner. I had some amazing moments and opportunities through Vine for which I am eternally grateful. It took me on adventures abroad, I made friends with people at the other side of the world and I even let the world know I got engaged to my beautiful fiancé through Vine. So it is with tremendous sadness that I say goodbye to Vine and it’s community.
His favourite Vine:
https://vine.co/v/i5mKAzgwq3H
Dougie Stew
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKBOuW9gSZc/
Like many other Vine users, UK based Dougie Stew’s life has changed for the better thanks to the app. After his involvement in the social community he launched his career as a digital marketer. He was surprised at how sudden the announcement of Vine’s death was.
There has been a really obvious drop off in the amount of creators using the app; most of them started moving their audiences onto different platforms probably because they could see the decline. I think I was more disappointed than shocked, that a platform full of self-made creativity would just cut itself off completely with little if not no explanation to the people that have put hours of work into it. However, overall I cannot help but be so grateful for all the opportunities I have had out of a free video app.
Vine has massively made such a positive impact on my life. I have worked with some of the best creators in the UK and met some fantastic talent from Europe and the US. Working with Vine directly, as well as Twitter and its subsidiary company Niche, I have travelled to Paris a number of times to create content for Twitter and other companies. Vine has given me the opportunity to make a career out of making stupid videos. I always thought it would be nothing but a dream to actually get paid for something you love 100% but through Vine I have been able to create bespoke campaigns for companies like Warner Bros, Pepperami and Just Eat to name a few. It also led me onto my career now as a Digital Marketer.
I downloaded vine I think about 4 or 5 months after it was released after seeing a load of videos take over Facebook and thinking I would love to give it a go. Not thinking I would get anywhere or that anyone would see my stuff, ended up with over 20k followers on the app and 8million views which still blows my mind.
For this industry, you should always have a safety net. Most people who make a career out of Vine knew that it wouldn’t be around forever and took the opportunity to push their other social routes. And it’s not like their fans are just there for vine content – they usually appreciate the creator enough to hit them up on different platforms. I personally think that I got everything out of Vine that I could possibly ask for; it helped me move out of Somerset closer to London, I have a solid life long career because of it and a fantastic group of friends. I don’t think I will ever be sad that it’s dead, just happy it happened!
His favourite Vine:
https://vine.co/v/iaWurPFZnQA
In the mean time it’s probably a good idea to download all your old clips, lest they be deleted forever. Or maybe there’s no reason to give up hope just yet, as Pornhub wants to buy Vine because “six seconds is long enough.” Not entirely sure how well that will translate onto a website full of teenagers, but it’s something.
