Vine Stars Share Fond Bitter Reactions After Platform Shuts Down

Twitter is closing its six-second video sharing service Vine, four years after it was launched. The decision has caused a bitter reaction among Vine’s most popular stars.
Twitter didn’t give a reason for the closure, but did thank users of the app in a blog post on Medium. Vine “celebrities” who have accumulated millions of followers on the platform, and in some cases launched careers from it, have reacted with, as you’d expect, disappointment.

Matthew Espinosa, who boasts 6.3 million followers on Vine, posted several Tweets expressing his displeasure at the closure.

I can’t believe the app that got me where I am today is gonna be taken down…so many memories just thrown away.
— Matthew Espinosa (@TheMattEspinosa) October 27, 2016
Jerome Jarre, who has 8.6 million followers on the soon-to-be-deceased platform said in an emailed statement to Culture Trip that although he was grateful for the start Vine gave him, video stars will still thrive without it. “We all know the app had been deserted by the audience a long time ago. Vine is dead, yes, but everything that was born from it is very alive. It’s like if a group of painters have just lost one of their favorite paintbrush [sic]. Nothing more.”

“Vine is not an old friend that just died, it is just a brush, a platform, and the true friends are not those platforms we use, there are the people that follow the journey and enjoy what we create. Those people are what truly matters, and they know exactly where to find us,” he added.

King Bach, the most followed person on Vine, responded with a farewell video on Twitter:

Vine was super liiiit! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/1jxKY7zlFp — King Bach (@KingBach) October 27, 2016
Marcus Johns, a Vine star with over 6.5 million followers, posted a statement on Twitter saying: “I remember making Vines and spending hours and hours of time on the app before it was even popular. People called me crazy but I knew it was a special thing.”

“I think people will look back on the Vine years and compare it to something like the Mickey Mouse club.”

Bye bye old friend. Thank you for everything ❤️@vine https://t.co/GuNmLHBb1f
— @BrittanyFurlan (@BrittanyFurlan) October 27, 2016
When Culture Trip attempted to contact several other popular Vine users — in many cases, management companies and agents responded, reflecting how much power the platform wielded during its four-year run — some didn’t share the same enthusiasm for Vine’s influence in their career.

Jake Paul, who now stars in Disney’s Bizaardvark, agreed to talk to Culture Trip, but when emailed several questions including “Will your career be affected by this? If so, how?” simply replied “no.”

As for Vine founder Rus Yusupov, he has one lesson for all aspiring entrepreneurs.

Don’t sell your company!
— Rus (@rus) October 27, 2016

About the author

Peter Ward

Tech Editor

Peter was born in Birmingham, England and was raised in North Wales. He studied journalism at the University of Sheffield before moving to Dubai, where he worked for several business magazines. After three years in the Middle East, Peter moved to New York to earn his master's degree in business journalism from Columbia University Journalism School. He has since written for international publications such as Bloomberg, The Economist and Newsweek. In his spare time Peter loves to play and watch soccer, go to the movies, read, and play video games.