Vine: Twitter Shuts Down Its Short-Form Video Service

Twitter is killing one of its video sharing platform, Vine, “in the coming months”, the microblogging website announced in a blog post Thursday.

Though you can still download and watch already-posted Vines, you won’t be able to upload new six-second clips from now on, as the company plans to wind down the mobile app slowly.

“We value you, your Vines, and are going to do this the right way,” Twitter said in Thursday’s announcement.

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“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. You will be notified before we make any changes to the app or website.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Twitter’s latest quarterly report, which revealed that the company is to lay off 9 per cent of its workforce, which equals about 350 people.

The company also said in a letter to shareholders that it was going to prioritise some parts of its business, as it fights to hit profitability in 2017.

Twitter launched Vine in 2012 as a way to share short, six-second video clips. Initially envisioned as a social video sharing service, Vine quickly attracted a new generation of creators looking to reach an audience with short, pointed stand-up comedy. However, Vine never became the destination that Twitter had hoped for.

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Meanwhile, Vine was fading, it was losing valuable market share to Instagram and Snapchat. Not only do they both allow for longer clips (Instagram allows up to 60 seconds while Snapchat’s restriction is 10).

2016 in particular has been rough for Twitter. Not only did it see an exodus of executives, it also faced increasing scrutiny over its constant harassment problems.

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