Vine video-sharing app to be shut down by Twitter
Twitter said in a blog post: “Nothing is happening to the apps, website or your Vines today. 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.”
The app, which had 100 million people watching videos every month and 1.5bn daily video loops, launched video on Twitter. Sporting occasions, where goals, celebrations and highlights were shared in short looping clips through Vine, brought the app to a mainstream audience.
But user numbers have dwindled in recent years in their 10s of millions, while Twitter has integrated video sharing directly into its main mobile apps and experience, while also trying its hand at live video with Periscope.
In June this year, Vine sought users to beta test a longer video feature, but it is clear that Twitter is no longer interested in supporting separate apps, only its core mobile apps and social network. The company recently made Periscope videos viewable directly within the main Twitter app.
Earlier on 27 October, Twitter announced hundreds of layoffs. The company’s quarterly results report revealed its revenue was a better-than-expected US$616m and its earnings per share were ahead of analyst estimates, $0.13 to $0.09.
The company’s most important metric, its number of monthly active users, was also up: to 317 million from 313 million the previous quarter. Of those users, 83 per cent were on mobile devices.
Twitter stock, down by more than 25 per cent this year, rose slightly in pre-market trading.
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From the 2014 Innovations Report: Embracing short-form video sites Vine and Instagram
