Nearly four years after its launch in 2013, Twitter’s Vine service is set to be discontinued, leaving creators to reminisce on their favorite short videos made through the mobile app.
Twitter stated in a blog post that they would not be taking the service down permanently, as they “think it’s important to still be able to watch all the incredible Vines that have been made”. Regardless, the hashtag #RIPVine emerged this week, with creators from across the web weighing in on the app’s closure:
Vine shutting down is the best thing to happen to Vine. So many gems I missed on my timeline.
— Meghan Tonjes (@meghantonjes) October 28, 2016
Twitter's video service is shutting down. Can't remember who told me. I heard it through the grape vine
— Evan DEADinger (@EvanEdinger) October 28, 2016
Some took the opportunity to share their favorite Vines:
Fav vine. Keep this one. The rest is fine to go. https://t.co/98LbWvslH7
— Jack Howard (@JackHoward) October 28, 2016
#RIPVine #VinesGreatestHits Cats aren't as useless as everyone says. https://t.co/bP5k3sOFAu
— Scare Cullen Clisare (@Clisare) October 28, 2016
No, I'm not demanding. Shut up. https://t.co/JyAqes8Y2R (#ripvine – I had fun with you) #vine
— EllenRosefromthedead (@icklenellierose) October 28, 2016
this vine captures all of my feelings about vine being shut down https://t.co/VFLix3VJO0
— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) October 28, 2016
Additionally, some looked at the implications of a social media site with such a large consumer base coming to a halt.
“I keep thinking about how intense the closing of Vine is,” stated Hank Green on Twitter. “We’ve never seen a major social platform end. So much creation, so much culture.” While acknowledging that, at times, the app was defined by its more unflattering moments, he elaborated that “it drives home how reliant creators are on our platforms, their policies, their success, their strategies, and their management. And also on the culture of the creators and users who use it. Much of Vine’s demise was caused by creators abusing the platform’s systems.”
Dean Dobbs took a similar position, explaining that those who brought infamy to the app should not undermine the creativity that went into writing and executing the six-second jokes: “It’s a popular but specific bubble. Not representative of the platform at all.”
Either way, it's a massive bloody shame that Vine is shutting down. Unless something better comes along, we are the lesser for it.
— Scream Dobbs (@DeanDobbs) October 27, 2016
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