Tesla CEO and the new owner of Twitter Elon Musk seems to be planning to take on the popular Chinese app TikTok. Musk has signalled a potential interest in reviving Vine, the social video app that Twitter shutdown almost six years ago — 2016.
The ‘Chief Twit’ posted a yes/no poll to followers asking them: “Bring back Vine?” According to a report in Axios, Musk has asked Twitter engineers to work on a Vine reboot that could be ready by year end. The report quotes multiple sources. Musk is also said to have discussed the revival of the Vine app in the months leading up to his Twitter acquisition.
Why Musk may want to bring back Vine
As to why Musk may bring back Vine, the answer is simple: Revenue potential. TikTok today is not only the most-popular app globally, it is also reportedly one of the highest-grossing apps worldwide. The short-form video platform TikTok has been ranked among the top social media apps generating the highest revenue, as per the data compiled by Finbold. In September, the app generated $2.5 million daily on Android and iPhone devices worldwide, excluding the iPad. The number translates to an hourly revenue of about $104,000. During the month, the TikTok recorded a cumulative revenue of $75.8 million. Both Facebook and Google too have their own version of TikTok rivals.
What is Vine
Vine was a free mobile application that allowed users to record and share an unlimited number of short, looping video clips with a maximum length of six seconds. Vine was acquired by Twitter in the year 2012. Twitter launched the Vine app in January 2013 Android and Apple iOS platforms.
How Vine worked
To use Vine, users needed to open the app, aim the device’s camera at a subject matter, then hold a finger on the screen to record. Users could change subject matters and film another clip by pausing the running video. The app automatically linked recorded video clips, creating a unique, six-second video that could be directly posted to users’ Vine profiles and shared via Twitter and Facebook. These videos played on a loop and the feed resembled that of Twitter and Instagram.
Vine showed public profiles. These profiles included: Vine username, Vine display name, public Vines, the date the Vine was originally posted, Vine captions, and the number of likes, revines and loops for each Vine.
Why Vine was shut down
Twitter pulled the plug on Vine in October 2016. “Today, we are sharing the news that in the coming months we’ll be discontinuing the mobile app,” said the company in a statement. Though Twitter never really said what went wrong, the app struggled to grow its user base as well as find ways to make money. While Vine once boasted a commanding lead over other social video apps, it failed to keep pace as competitors added features.
The post Explained: What is Vine and why Elon Musk may bring this TikTok rival back appeared first on TechCodex.