The billionaire indicates that Twitter will resurrect Vine, which could allow the platform to attack TikTok head-on.
Elon Musk continues with his Twitter renewal.
When the billionaire acquired the platform for $44 billion at the end of October, he set an ambition to break through Twitter 1.0.
This break is already visible in acceptable content on the platform. From now on, users of the microblogging website are invited to tweet whatever they want within the limits of what is authorized by law. The various safeguards against xenophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and the spread of disinformation are almost non-existent.
The other revolution undertaken by the ‘Technological King’ is to make Twitter profitable. This goal is one of the most difficult to achieve because advertising revenue, which accounted for 91% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2022, should logically decline due to the exodus of advertisers. Many brands have stopped promoting their products and services on Twitter due to Musk’s laissez-faire approach to content management.
But the billionaire hopes to make up for this by increasing the share of revenue subscriptions. This has increased the price of Blue, the subscription service offered by Twitter. To encourage users to sign up for Blue, Musk has integrated the blue checkmark that suggests that the person behind an account is who they say they are. In addition, Blue members also have features like editing their tweets.
‘I need to bring back’ a ‘better’ vine
Musk also plans to charge companies that have a Twitter account.
The tech mogul is also considering offering new services. Rumors point to paid services. The serial entrepreneur himself has just indicated that he is going to resurrect a popular product, capable of seducing influencers / creators. This is Vine, a mobile app that allows you to record and share short videos.
“It’s a tragedy how Twitter killed Periscope and Vine,” a Twitter user who said he worked for the platform posted on February 10. people. Some of my best memories of working at Twitter were from working on those apps. Bring it back @elonmusk.”
The whimsical and serial entrepreneur then responded by making it clear that Twitter was going to relaunch Vine.
“Periscope lives in part with Spaces, but there’s no question we need to bring back an even better version of Vine,” Musk said.
Basically, the question is not whether Musk will revive Vine, but which version of Vine he will revive. The billionaire’s response also indicates that Twitter 2.0 is already working on the new Vine. Musk had already tested the waters last year by conducting a survey, as he often does with big decisions, on Vine.
“Bring back Vine?” the serial entrepreneur tweeted on Oct. 30.
Voters had two options: “yes” or “no.”
The “Yes” vote won with almost 70% of the votes cast.
Attacking TikTok
The billionaire sees Vine as a weapon against TikTok, the short video platform owned by the Chinese giant Bytedance. The platform is popular with Gen Z and millennials, with advertisers jostling for space on it. Traditional social media giants, including meta-platforms (GOAL) – Get a free reportand Alphabet (Google) – Get a free report, parent company of Google and YouTube, have taken note of his rise. Now they are copying TikTok with Reels on Meta and Shorts on Alphabet.
Vine was created in June 2012. Even before its official launch, the startup attracted the attention of Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter. The platform acquired Vine in late 2012 for $30 million.
Launched in January 2013, Vine has become the most downloaded free app in the US. Seven months later, it had more than 40 million users. Its big advantage was its format (six-second videos that run on a loop) and its ease of use. There is no need to edit; the recording is interrupted when the creator presses the button. It resumes by pressing again. Very quickly, the concept demonstrated its full creative potential.
But things changed in June 2013 with the arrival of a similar feature on Instagram. Vine was also facing competition from Snapchat. In search of a growing audience, many creators have migrated to YouTube and Facebook.
In the summer of 2014, the number of users began to decline. Caught in internal governance problems, the platform evolved only gradually and marginally: the six-second limit, for example, was removed only in June 2016.
In April 2015, Twitter tried to react by buying Niche, a company that connects creators with advertisers. He promised to open up to publicity and share his recipes. But it was too little, too late. The app had become a financial burden on Twitter, between IT infrastructure and salaries.
In October 2016, Twitter decided to discontinue Vine.
“To all creators, thank you for taking a chance on this app in the past,” the company wrote in its farewell. blog post.
“To the many team members over the years who made this what it was, thank you for your contributions. And of course, thank you to everyone who came out to watch and laugh every day.”
