The end of (the) Vine. The video-sharing app is shuttering after three years, the company announced in a post to Medium on Thursday, October 27.
“Since 2013, millions of people have turned to Vine to laugh at loops and see creativity unfold,” the statement reads. “Today, we are sharing the news that in the coming months we’ll be discontinuing the mobile app.”
Vine users should be reassured that their previously posted clips won’t be deleted, however — though the creation of new ones seems less likely in coming months.
“Nothing is happening to the apps, website or your Vines today,” the note continues. “We value you, your Vines, and are going to do this the right way. You’ll be able to access and download your Vines. We’ll be keeping the website online because we think it’s important to still be able to watch all the incredible Vines that have been made.”
Vine launched under parent company Twitter in January 2013 as a “mobile service that lets [users] capture and share short looping videos,” according to its website. Vine videos last just six seconds or less, and became a popular form of storytelling for young Vine stars.
On a related note, the Associated Press reported Thursday, October 27, that Twitter would be cutting 9 percent of its employees worldwide after failing to find a buyer and losing money in recent months. (Its competitors — Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram — have only been growing its users in the past year.)
Social media personalities like Lele Pons, Brittany Furlan and Nash Grier all made their big breaks on Vine, and the social media sharing platform’s demise brought with it a deluge of mourning reactions.
I can’t believe they’re killing #Vine. It’s one of those things where they invented something which people then mimicked & got overshadowed
— wikipedia brown (@eveewing) October 27, 2016
What’s life without vine tbh?
— Teen Wolf Army (@TeenWolfArmy) October 27, 2016
my heart will always beat green. ? https://t.co/A1u2VgXcve
— karyn spencer (@KarynSpencer) October 27, 2016
Heartbreaking really. Messing around on @vine changed my life. What a fantastic platform.
— José Covaco (@HoeZaay) October 27, 2016
https://twitter.com/Tony_Oswald/status/791675133412900864
Well…it’s official. Vine is being shutdown.
My backup career is now over. I’ll never be a “Professional Viner.” Sad day.
— Jack Dunlop (@CouRageJD) October 27, 2016
