‘What goes up must come down’. This is a saying that we’ve all been told since we were children. This basic physics lesson is also a metaphor for many things – one that is applicable to the now-defunct social media network Vine.
Vine has now been gone for six months. It seems like only yesterday we were huddled over our phones, watching whatever 6-second wacky antics our favorite Vine star was going to do next. The Web Geeks are spending today reminiscing about our favorite gone – but not forgotten – social media network.
What Made Vine Special
There is one question that is asked by every person who hasn’t used Vine – “What’s the point?” They don’t understand what the appeal of Vine ever was, and can’t fathom why so many people were using it. While it’s true, on the outside having a whole social network based on short 6-second clips seemed like a silly idea. However, its usability proved otherwise.
The real appeal of Vine was it fit in so well with millennial culture. Us millennials have the attention span of a goldfish. Often times if we don’t get what we’re looking for in a few seconds we’ll just shut whatever we’re watching off. The problem is millennials are on the go at all times and don’t have time to stop and smell the flowers.
That’s where Vine did things so right. It catered to the millennials’ short attention span and ensured that their content was kept short and straight to the point. By having 6-second clips, it not only ensured that users could watch their content in a short amount of time, but it also challenged content creators to cater to this new form of media. Content creators were used to the ‘YouTube parameters’ of being able to have a seemingly endless amount of time to get their point across. Now, they had to say everything they needed to say in a limited 6-second period.
What Caused The Death Of Vine?
Some say Vine flew too close to the sun. Some say it got too big too fast. The reality is simple – it didn’t move fast enough with user interests. Vine became popular due to millennials’ short attention span. Vine also died because of millennials’ short attention span.
When Vine exploded in popularity, other networks took note. Instagram added their 15-second clips with an explore functionality to find celebrities. Vine investors soon started to dwindle. Then, of course, the final nail in the coffin: Snapchat.
Snapchat exploded in popularity seemingly overnight. It was similar to Vine in some respects – it had 10-second clip functionality and added the ability to post these videos publicly rather than just to friends. It also had a more casual appeal to it – it allowed you to get a peak into peoples’ daily lives. Unfortunately for Vine, that was their original goal – it just never panned out that way and became more of an entertainment network. This ended up being the downfall of Vine.
Here we are in 2017, with Snapchat being the third most popular social network for millennials, and Vine being a distant memory. But in our memories, we look back at Vine as an old friend. It’s brief time as a social network king was short-lived but impactful. It may be gone now, but it will not be forgotten.