Twitter Has Shut Down Video Sharing Platform Vine

It has been a place for people to be creative with video, making interesting and often hilarious six-second video loops that have been shared all over social media. It was a hugely successful app and it’s had millions of happy users in its time, but at the end of last month its owners at Twitter made the decision to axe Vine completely. Twitter acquired Vine in 2012 – before it had even launched – but in a statement released on October 27th, Twitter and Vine together announced: “Since 2013, millions of people have turned to Vine to laugh at loops and see creativity unfold. Today, we are sharing the news that in the coming months we’ll be discontinuing the mobile app.”

There was no reason in this particular statement as to why Vine has been shut down, however Twitter announced on the same day that it will be letting go of more than 300 of its employees (that’s 9% of its global workforce) within the sales, partnerships and marketing departments. It has not directly been said, but this could be the reason behind the closure of Vine. While they have confirmed that Vine is coming to an end, owners have reinforced that they value their users and all the Vines that have been made, and therefore they are keeping the website live and allowing all Vines to be downloaded so none of the inventive work that has been brought to life through Vine is lost. This came before a message of thanks, reading: “Thank you. Thank you. To all the creators out there – thank you for taking a chance on this app back in the day. To the many team members over the years who made this what it was – thank you for your contributions. And of course, thank you to all of those who came to watch and laugh every day.” Platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are becoming increasingly popular for video content, but they owe it to Vine for starting the craze and giving inspiration to everyone who made or watched videos on its app.

To say a final thank you and goodbye to one of the first successful social media platforms dedicated to video content, here are some of our very favourite videos produced through Vine…

• The cutest camouflaged dog in a fluffy blanket you’ll probably ever see!
• The most polite opening of any present – ever!
• This girl who is less than impressed about her trip to Disneyland.
• And this speaking squirrel that we can’t help but smile about.