Just hours after disclosing that it was laying off about 9 percent of its staff, Twitter made another announcement to the public. Taking to Medium to break the news, Twitter announced that it was shutting down its Vine mobile applications for both iOS and Android. On the blog post, Twitter executives revealed that they had been struggling to match the growth it attained when it first launched the app in 2013.
According to Twitter, the shutdown will not be happening right away. Instead, the mobile app will be discontinued "in the coming months." But while the apps will be closed, Vine promises that it will be keeping the website online, especially since it receives over 200 million views each month. By retaining the website, users will be given enough time to download their six-second videos. At the same time, users will be notified of any further changes Twitter makes to its website.
While this decision comes as a shock to its valued Viners, those who have been following Twitter's announcements may have had some idea this was bound to happen. After all, this announcement trails after earlier rumors behind a failed attempt at selling the service circulated. Speculation about this further intensified as Twitter released a statement that it was restructuring its business by slashing some of its jobs. With the news though, it's unclear whether or not Vine employees were offered new jobs in the company.
Twitter purchased Vine from its original developers back in 2012. The company then launched the service in January 2013 as an avenue for people to share 6-second looping videos with their friends and followers. Shortly after, it became a huge success as a microblogging website where its "Vine stars" went viral and landed them instant celebrity labels.
But over the years, other rivals were able to overtake Vine's success and even steal its most treasured Viners. And ever since then, Twitter struggled to add more users or grow its revenue with the service. Vine could just not keep up with other platforms the likes of Instagram and Snapchat.
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