We’ve all witnessed plenty of memes and funny videos on the social media apps that we have today but what most of us do not know is that a few of them originated on an app called Vine. For those lucky ones who had been a user of this app, adore it unconditionally.
The Origin of Vine
Vine was a short/looped video social media application developed in the USA. It was founded in the year 2013 by Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll. The app did amazingly well in its first few years gaining millions of users from all around the globe. People could upload small clips/videos within a limited time on the app. In 2017 Twitter decided it was time for it to shut down.
It was also announced the same year that the viewing and downloading of videos on Vine would be available but users could not upload new content. It was in the year 2019 that it was completely shut down meaning that even the viewing and downloading could not be done anymore. Since then, there have been many similar apps trying to make a name for them but none has surpassed the standards set by the dead app.
Vine was available on all platforms- iOS, Android, Windows, Windows Phone, macOS, and Xbox.
Why Did Vine Shut Down?
Over the due course of time, Vine faced a tough time competing with other social media platforms to the point where the company was hardly making any money. Let’s understand in detail what went wrong with this delightful application.
Firstly, the six-second time limit to its videos was too restricting for its content creators and hence, they chose other similar apps that offered a better time limit for uploading their content. Since there was less content now being posted, their revenue went down. When a few Viners got to fame and wished of trying out other forms of content creating, the app wasn’t their first choice anymore.
After a few years of Vine’s launch, various social media apps started to emerge that offered better services than Vine. The most notable one was Instagram. Instagram had been launched during Vines's initial years and hence attracting more users to it. Not to mention, Instagram had a better time limit on videos than Vine which lead to its demise.
It was too created to campaign for its parent company, Twitter- mainly because Twitter had to attract more users. This, however, did not yield good results. It failed to bring in a lot of revenue.
Few Features
Vine was popular at its time since its features were new to the world. It offered time-limited videos along with options to edit videos in such a way that one could make it seem that they’re flying. With just a touch on the screen, one could easily put in motion effects, ghost effects, and grids, etc. It also offered an in-built camera feature to record videos.
For the users that have uploaded a few videos on Vine and are unable to get them back, here are a few ways you can get them back.
To see older Vine videos, enter the URL followed by the Viner's username in the following format:
vine.co/username
It shows how many views, loops, and likes each video earned. You can also see when the vine was posted and along with which caption.
How to Download Videos from Vine?
Navigate to the Vine website using your computer or desktop's web browser. There's a blue button in the upper corner of the webpage that says 'Download Your Vines.' Click on it, and then 'Request Your Archive.'
Is there any chance of a Comeback?
While the original Vine app has absolutely no scope of making a comeback, there has been another application launched called ‘bytes’ by the founders of Vine itself. The app is also popularly known as Vine 2.
It was launched in the year 2017- the same year the original shut down.
Alternatives for Vine
With the creation of multiple vine-like applications, here are a few alternatives that are enjoyed by users in the year 2021.
Instagram is renowned for its video-sharing feature which is way better than Vine. With the increased time limit, users can now post what they couldn’t on vine.
Coub, which is comparable to Vine, is yet another astounding video streaming application. Despite having a modest community, Coub provides a ton of great content. Though there is one drawback- it doesn’t allow users to add text to videos.
Periscope is authorized by Twitter and is among the top Vine rival companies. It's also a terrific program for live-streaming events directly to your Twitter account. The Periscope application allows users to live stream using their phone camera.
YouTube is currently the leading and perhaps most prominent video-sharing service. With this platform, you could also look at videos or upload them on your own. YouTube lets users live stream as well. Scheduled streams, community posts, and user-concerned recommendations are what makes it an amazing application.
Is TikTok the new Vine?
Although there are many conflicting opinions on this subject, one point supporters cannot refute is Vine's influence on this society. It compelled content developers to create quality content straightforwardly. Its app's resources were restricted, and several individuals were forced to make do with what they had in a limited time span all without the exciting features of TikTok.
Unlike YouTube, it was unable to provide it's content providers a part of the earnings. Furthermore, this became challenging for artists to re-establish their status on the site following a dip in downloads and user base. Therefore, it had gained the love of many but finally was made to give up. Looking at all these various problems faced by the app, it was bound to come to an end.
