Why is the internet talking about Vine again?

The hugely popular video sharing social media platform known as Vine was formerly one of the most successful apps on the market and racked up of 200 million active daily users during its time in the spotlight. With such a huge user base and a collection of content that would take over eight years to watch, it’s no surprise that Vine was quickly snapped up by Twitter. Unfortunately, in January 2017, the social media giant closed down Vine for good.

This came as a shock and a disappointment to millions of people around the world, including the countless internet celebrities that made a name for themselves on the platform. While rumours of a reprieve have buzzed for a while, the first concrete piece of information recently came in the form of a Tweet from the co-founder of Vine, Dom Hofmann who stated that he is working on a follow up to the popular app.

Although there is little to no information regarding the specifics of the project, the internet has been flooded with comments and speculation from excited ex Vine users and social media personalities. The natural expectation, considering that the new project was referred to as a Vine follow-up, is that the app will feature a similar principle that revolves around sharing video or media content. However, this is purely speculative at the minute as further information is yet to be released.

There are important lessons to be learned from the rise and fall of Vine, many of which Dom Hofmann will be taking into account when developing his new app. What made Vine so popular was its huge collection of creative users. The sharing platform allowed users to create 6-second video clips, a feature that made it so popular but ultimatley, also led to its downfall. When other apps such as Instagram innovated and developed more user-friendly features, Vine found it hard to compete, leading to a dwindling stream of regular content.

Finances also played a big part in the death of Vine as the owners of Twitter struggled to successfully monetise the brand and market it towards advertisers. While it is important to engage with consumers and create an immersive product, it is vital that developers can monetise their apps efficiently if they hope to remain in business and improve. This is a lesson that the people at Vine never got the hang of.

Whether you choose to learn from the success or avoid the pitfalls highlighted by Vine, there is plenty to take away from the brand’s story. Hopefully, the upcoming app from Vine’s co-creator will remain in the app market for a longer time.