The Digital History of Vine
What happened to the six-second video streaming app?
In 2012, the internet was introduced to a social media app by the name of Vine that allowed for six-second videos. Vine was one of the first video-sharing apps and for this reason, the app gained popularity quickly. Anyone who installed the app either enjoyed scrolling through short videos that appeared on their feed or creating the videos. The app was simple to navigate, video creators only had to hold their finger down and hold the record button. Video creators attempted to make comical and entertaining videos that would make their videos go viral. Users of the app can “repost” or “revine” the videos that they love and those videos would than continue to circulate the internet.
Before there were influencers there were Vine stars that consisted of young teens to early thirties who were frequent users of the app. Vine stars were the users who were best known for their content on the app and had the most followers. Before Vine, there was no such thing as becoming famous on the internet for creating funny six-second videos. Lele Pons, Cameron Dallas, and Shawn Mendes were some of the early social media personality actors who created content that became trendy. I remember checking my favorite Vine celebrity’s accounts at specific times in hopes of being the first to comment or repost their video.
In January 2017, the app was taken off by the creators and was permanently removed from the internet. The app was bought by Twitter and Vine was no longer available to be purchased by users in the app store. Due to other apps such as Instagram and Snapchat adding videos to their platform that consisted of 15 seconds or more, it caused Vine to stay behind as the best app. Vine created limitations for users and did not allow users to be creative and get to edit their videos. Vine users wanted an innovative app with more tools to provide improved content for their audiences. Due to the lack of access to specific features, Vine users began to spend their time utilizing other apps that matched their preferences.
Vine is a significant app in digital history as it was one of the first video-sharing apps that was able to connect people through trends, challenges, and relatable content. The app created a modern culture where people could engage in conversations through the comment section of a video and allowed people who shared similar interests to virtually connect. One of the most memorable moments from Vine is the theme song from Disney Junior’s Little Einstein’s TV show which consisted of a remix version of the song that Vine users all over the internet started to use in their videos. Another memorable vine moment was the “What are those” vine where viners zoomed into people’s shoes and made hilarious videos out of it.
Today, TikTok has become what people call “the new Vine” as it reminds many of the Vine app that the internet loved back in 2013. Many of the trends that were seen on Vine have transitioned over to TikTok. Hashtags were heavily used on Vine and that has also moved over to TikTok in order to strategically organize content. We can still look back in digital media history and remember Vine for its 5 years on the internet making people laugh.
