by Sara Thurgood, Justin Edwards, and Anna Shirley

Vine is a video sharing app that skyrocketed in popularity after its release in 2013. At the time, Vine was one of the only video sharing apps available. The 6.5 second video limit urged users to use their time well and people got more and more creative. As time went on, several other companies came out with their own video sharing services and Vine became less popular.

A couple months ago, Twitter (who bought Vine in 2012 before its official release) announced that Vine would be shutting down. Today (January 17th) Vine will become the Vine Camera, which will allow you to take 6.5 second videos and post them to various social media outlets.

Despite its wide popularity, there are several reasons for Vine to shut down its servers due to monetary reasons and decrease in popularity. As mentioned earlier, the user base has shrunk a lot. In August of 2013 Twitter reported 40 million user accounts, but that doesn’t say how many are active. With users moving to other platforms, the Vine Camera that it’s turning into will be great for still allowing people to make and share vines, though they won’t be through Vine’s own servers any more.

Senior Cassi Johnson has had a lot of experience as a viewer using Vine, and isn’t too happy about it shutting down.

“For the people who actually enjoyed Vine and actually watched it and found it funny…and they’ve made their living on this. And the fact that they’re taking it away is kind of like saying, ‘Hey, you’ve worked so hard on this, let me just sweep it from underneath your feet and now you don’t have anything.” Her favorite Vine is by Aaron Doh, and it’s one she can watch over and over again.

Many people have taken the opportunity to get stardom off of vine, such as Nash Grier, Liza Koshy and Brittany Furlan. And as many people have moved above Vine and made a bigger name for themselves, many have stayed with the failing app, resulting in job losses.

“I feel like you probably should have had a backup plan before you invested all your time into 7 second videos” Sophomore Avery Stoddard said.

Senior Anna Chapman thinks that Vine has been a positive thing in our generation.

“Its given people a lot of opportunities to become famous and to spread the love,” Chapman said. “It really influences a part of our modern humor, so it’s kind of a shame that it’s shutting down because that’s kind of how trends are distributed.” Chapman’s favorite Vine is by Lizzza.

Vine has done so much for our culture and generation, and we have enjoyed many different views of people’s lives in 6 seconds. We have been able to experience talent, humor, and in some cases, news in a short time. Vine will be shutting down tonight so make sure to save your favorite Vines for endless looped entertainment. But don’t worry, many wonderful people have taken the time to upload your favorite videos, full of laughter, tears, and a whole 6 seconds of a different perspective.