How Vine Defined a Generation
Before the dance crazes, the kissing challenges and The Ratatou-sical, there was Vine. Vine was the power house short form video app that dominated my high school years. It packed so much creativity and spunk into each 6 second video that it made it impossible to look away. Some even say that they were comedy gold. Even after Vine’s departure from the market, we still talk about it today. Some recalling quotes in their everyday language and sparking the “It’s from a Vine” phrase. But what was it that made Vine so permanent that it’s still referenced today?
Vine was launched at the beginning of 2013, but didn’t really get rolling until 2015 (a year before it’s demise). During that time, Vine reached over 200 million users. In late 2016, Twitter cut costs and basically cancelled Vine leading the creative world to mourn until it was replaced by the juggernaut that is TikTok. Although Vine and TikTok have many features that are impossible not to compare, Vine still seems to have a certain connection with their audience that TikTok doesn't. TikTok is shamed in way for being run over by children, where Vine had a slightly more mature audience. TikTok’s audience majority is 10–19 years of age, where Vine’s audience majority was anywhere between 18–35. Leaving that age group between 23 and 40 years old today. This audience, like myself, is a little more reluctant to download TikTok not only because we know it’s not the same, but mainly because we’re afraid we’ll enjoy it. Even if it’s just little. Because if we do it’s almost like we’re cheating on our first love. That was Vine.
In it’s short lived life, Vine made a huge impact on pop culture. It sparked merchandise, fan art, and even fan accounts where people re-shared viral videos from the app. Vine has such a huge cult-like following that not even TikTok or the new Byte app, constructed by the creators of Vine, can fill the void. The difference between Vine and other video apps is the character. It was something to watch, share, and repeat with your friends wherever they were. There was no creator fund, but there were stars born. The superstar Canadian born singer, Shawn Mendes was discovered on Vine in 2014. Since then he has had an extremely successful music career, all stemming from covering songs on the app. He is not only considered the first Vine sensation, but he has went on to be nominated for two Grammy’s. A real winner of the platform. Other content creators from Vine such as Zach King, Thomas Sanders, and King Bach have moved on to create for other social media platforms and even the film industry. This just goes to show how much impact the app had in such a short period of time.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t quote a Vine. It’s a part of my forever language and I dare not change it. It’ll be five years this year since the passing of Vine. As we continue to mourn this dear friend who sparked our darkest humors and craziest antics, I will not cry because that time is over but smile because it happened. In part I say, “Look at all those chickens!”.