Benedict Townsend

And then the second reason, I think, is just simplicity. The average user doesn't want multiple apps. If you say to them, hey, you can have one app that kind of just does everything, you know, in your busy day, that's quite a nice promise to users. And that's what Instagram was really trying to do. They were like, why leave Instagram and go and watch video elsewhere?

And then the second reason, I think, is just simplicity. The average user doesn't want multiple apps. If you say to them, hey, you can have one app that kind of just does everything, you know, in your busy day, that's quite a nice promise to users. And that's what Instagram was really trying to do. They were like, why leave Instagram and go and watch video elsewhere?

You can just do it all in Instagram.

You can just do it all in Instagram.

Absolutely. But when you are a giant platform like Instagram, you can, shall we say, lovingly take some of that simplicity and that originality from someone else and make it your own. I mean, people forget now, but Stories was a signature Snapchat feature. That was Snapchat's thing was that you could post a story. Instagram nicked that. And now we basically only associate Stories with Instagram.

Absolutely. But when you are a giant platform like Instagram, you can, shall we say, lovingly take some of that simplicity and that originality from someone else and make it your own. I mean, people forget now, but Stories was a signature Snapchat feature. That was Snapchat's thing was that you could post a story. Instagram nicked that. And now we basically only associate Stories with Instagram.

Now, that doesn't kill Snapchat because often the borrowed thing is not quite as good as the original. But you're going to siphon off enough users that it's meaningful to do that.

Now, that doesn't kill Snapchat because often the borrowed thing is not quite as good as the original. But you're going to siphon off enough users that it's meaningful to do that.

Karen was still convinced that if content creators were nurtured, and the kind of content people actually wanted to see was prioritized, that she could turn things around. And it would be a new era of Vine, both faithful to its original legacy, while also having the courage to stay relevant, perhaps even revolutionary.

Karen was still convinced that if content creators were nurtured, and the kind of content people actually wanted to see was prioritized, that she could turn things around. And it would be a new era of Vine, both faithful to its original legacy, while also having the courage to stay relevant, perhaps even revolutionary.

It would be an approach that embraced creators instead of shunning them and emphasized Vine first and foremost as a creative tool, as a way to get leverage over Instagram and Snapchat, which were much more focused on being social sites. It was much more about your friends, your family. Vine was all in on content creation.

It would be an approach that embraced creators instead of shunning them and emphasized Vine first and foremost as a creative tool, as a way to get leverage over Instagram and Snapchat, which were much more focused on being social sites. It was much more about your friends, your family. Vine was all in on content creation.

And in that sense, you can't help but think of TikTok, which very much took up that baton a few short years later. To this day, I wouldn't really say that TikTok is a social media site, or that it really pretends to be. It's first and foremost a place for creation and creators. That's what Vine needed to be if it had any hope of surviving. Everything was riding on the rescue plan.

And in that sense, you can't help but think of TikTok, which very much took up that baton a few short years later. To this day, I wouldn't really say that TikTok is a social media site, or that it really pretends to be. It's first and foremost a place for creation and creators. That's what Vine needed to be if it had any hope of surviving. Everything was riding on the rescue plan.

The party, an act of defiant positivity. A glittering Hollywood soiree, an olive branch disguised as champagne and canapes. Glasses of fizz, a hubbub of excited chatter, all the buzzing excitement of an LA industry party. The very same kind of industry intrigue that creators had been dying for.

The party, an act of defiant positivity. A glittering Hollywood soiree, an olive branch disguised as champagne and canapes. Glasses of fizz, a hubbub of excited chatter, all the buzzing excitement of an LA industry party. The very same kind of industry intrigue that creators had been dying for.

Symbolically, King Batch's party was a celebratory moment heralding a new era of harmony between Vine and its creators. A white flag, a treaty signed, a change of guard, the bugle call of a new dispensation.

Symbolically, King Batch's party was a celebratory moment heralding a new era of harmony between Vine and its creators. A white flag, a treaty signed, a change of guard, the bugle call of a new dispensation.

There it is. There it is. Oh boy. This is what we've been building to. The ominous invitation is to a meeting that'll take place just off Hollywood Boulevard at 1600 Vine, the heart of the influencer kingdom.

There it is. There it is. Oh boy. This is what we've been building to. The ominous invitation is to a meeting that'll take place just off Hollywood Boulevard at 1600 Vine, the heart of the influencer kingdom.