Benedict Townsend

But despite the fanfare, behind the scenes, the chemistry just wasn't there. When did you first become aware that there was this sort of odd relationship between Twitter and Vine?

But despite the fanfare, behind the scenes, the chemistry just wasn't there. When did you first become aware that there was this sort of odd relationship between Twitter and Vine?

Periscope, which you'll be forgiven for forgetting, was a live video streaming app. When Vine started falling out of favor, it became Twitter's new golden child. You know, it's a shame because there was a brief, wonderful period where you could post Vines on Twitter and they would play natively in the feed.

Periscope, which you'll be forgiven for forgetting, was a live video streaming app. When Vine started falling out of favor, it became Twitter's new golden child. You know, it's a shame because there was a brief, wonderful period where you could post Vines on Twitter and they would play natively in the feed.

Vines would be interspersed with tweets in your timeline in a slick way that was honestly very ahead of its time and much more reminiscent of the state of social media these days. It almost made too much sense. Twitter integrating one very popular product with another so that everyone could enjoy mummy and daddy playing nice with each other.

Vines would be interspersed with tweets in your timeline in a slick way that was honestly very ahead of its time and much more reminiscent of the state of social media these days. It almost made too much sense. Twitter integrating one very popular product with another so that everyone could enjoy mummy and daddy playing nice with each other.

Anyway, very quickly Twitter changed the rules so Vines would only post to Twitter as links and would only play when you left the app. It's yet another inflection point. If Twitter had kept Vine properly integrated, would Vine not have lived a little longer? Found it easier to maintain cultural relevance?

Anyway, very quickly Twitter changed the rules so Vines would only post to Twitter as links and would only play when you left the app. It's yet another inflection point. If Twitter had kept Vine properly integrated, would Vine not have lived a little longer? Found it easier to maintain cultural relevance?

Do you think it's almost a case of Vine not taking advantage of its relationship with Twitter rather than Twitter spurning Vine? Or do you think it was a sort of mutually frosty relationship?

Do you think it's almost a case of Vine not taking advantage of its relationship with Twitter rather than Twitter spurning Vine? Or do you think it was a sort of mutually frosty relationship?

According to Karen, this tense dynamic had roots all the way back to day one.

According to Karen, this tense dynamic had roots all the way back to day one.

Were you surprised that they allowed you to sort of just do your own thing and not be messed with?

Were you surprised that they allowed you to sort of just do your own thing and not be messed with?

Do you think in hindsight, maybe if Vine had been more directly integrated from the beginning, things might have gone smoothly in the long run? No. Why not?

Do you think in hindsight, maybe if Vine had been more directly integrated from the beginning, things might have gone smoothly in the long run? No. Why not?

Well, that's the weird thing. You might think, oh, everyone's jumping ship to Instagram. It must be so much better. They must have cracked the code. But they hadn't. Instagram video was clunky. It was limited. To be honest, it kind of still is. Plus, like Vine at that time, there wasn't really any proper monetization.

Well, that's the weird thing. You might think, oh, everyone's jumping ship to Instagram. It must be so much better. They must have cracked the code. But they hadn't. Instagram video was clunky. It was limited. To be honest, it kind of still is. Plus, like Vine at that time, there wasn't really any proper monetization.

Well, there's a couple of reasons. I mean, the first one is just, I think, plain frustration. Like Vine wasn't evolving. It wasn't iterating. In our present day, look at TikTok. TikTok's got a new feature every 15 minutes. TikTok is always evolving. Vine was always the same. And when nothing changes, you know, people just get bored. They just look elsewhere.

Well, there's a couple of reasons. I mean, the first one is just, I think, plain frustration. Like Vine wasn't evolving. It wasn't iterating. In our present day, look at TikTok. TikTok's got a new feature every 15 minutes. TikTok is always evolving. Vine was always the same. And when nothing changes, you know, people just get bored. They just look elsewhere.