If you've spent any significant time on websites such as Twitter or Tumblr, you've probably come across a Vineat least once or twice. These quick looping clips have provided no shortage of humor and entertainment over the past few years, but unfortunately it's time to say goodbye to the app. Twitter announced a few days ago in a blog post that it would be shutting down Vine this year. "Since 2013, millions of people have turned to Vine to laugh at loops and see creativity unfold. Today, we are sharing the news that in the coming months we’ll be discontinuing the mobile app," Twitter said.
What's the reason? Well, Twitter has said it planned to cut 350 jobs (roughly nine percent of its global workforce) in an effort to become profitable. Vine has experienced a dramatic decrease of users over the last year. “Vine engagements are at an all-time low,” said Sarah Ware, the CEO of Markerly, an advertising firm that focuses on blogs and social media campaigns. “People are not posting as frequently and engagement is drastically going down.” On the other hand, Snapchat and Instagram Stories have continued to grow, presenting competition that Vine can't handle.
The good news is, all those Vines won't disappear forever. "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," wrote Twitter in the aforementioned blog post.
Still, I'm going to miss the fun little app. Let's take a moment to appreciate the humor Vine has brought into our lives:
Goodbye, Vine. It's been a blast.
