Benedict Townsend

I'm incredibly jealous. That is great. Up to now, the Vine staffers I've spoken to have had backgrounds in the worlds of tech and app design. Karen's a bit different. Before joining Vine HQ, she was already at home in creative spaces and in Hollywood.

I'm incredibly jealous. That is great. Up to now, the Vine staffers I've spoken to have had backgrounds in the worlds of tech and app design. Karen's a bit different. Before joining Vine HQ, she was already at home in creative spaces and in Hollywood.

It seems like Karen, along with Ashton, was way ahead of her time when it came to recognizing the winds of change that had come to her industry, courtesy of social media.

It seems like Karen, along with Ashton, was way ahead of her time when it came to recognizing the winds of change that had come to her industry, courtesy of social media.

It's kind of mad now to think that this would have been so mind-blowing, but in 2009, it was seismic. Karen was determined to blaze the trail of this new kind of media. She started work at an influencer agency called The Audience, which she says was the first ever...

It's kind of mad now to think that this would have been so mind-blowing, but in 2009, it was seismic. Karen was determined to blaze the trail of this new kind of media. She started work at an influencer agency called The Audience, which she says was the first ever...

So first of all, you know, before you joined Vine, you were obviously very early on in that kind of influencer space. Do you remember the launch of Vine? Was that news at all for you? Did you think anything of it?

So first of all, you know, before you joined Vine, you were obviously very early on in that kind of influencer space. Do you remember the launch of Vine? Was that news at all for you? Did you think anything of it?

But how was the traditional media old guard responding?

But how was the traditional media old guard responding?

When an opportunity to work directly with Vine came up, it seemed like a clear match.

When an opportunity to work directly with Vine came up, it seemed like a clear match.

It's a miracle they hired anyone with that system. Yeah. That's crazy. In August 2015, Karen officially joined Vine HQ. And it wasn't just Karen who was new. The role she was taking, head of creative development, was also brand new. So were you the first person to have that role?

It's a miracle they hired anyone with that system. Yeah. That's crazy. In August 2015, Karen officially joined Vine HQ. And it wasn't just Karen who was new. The role she was taking, head of creative development, was also brand new. So were you the first person to have that role?

Yeah, it seems at that time Twitter basically had a hard line on how it dealt with creators, which is to say to not deal with them at all.

Yeah, it seems at that time Twitter basically had a hard line on how it dealt with creators, which is to say to not deal with them at all.

Absolutely not. You know, the approach of social media platforms traditionally, to this day, has always been actively courting creators all the time. YouTube was constantly crowing about, like, we have so much money we can offer you from ads. Like, please come and create. Because they understood that this is a symbiotic relationship. You need the platform. You need the creators.

Absolutely not. You know, the approach of social media platforms traditionally, to this day, has always been actively courting creators all the time. YouTube was constantly crowing about, like, we have so much money we can offer you from ads. Like, please come and create. Because they understood that this is a symbiotic relationship. You need the platform. You need the creators.

You need to get along. You know, you can't take the creators for granted. Absolutely.

You need to get along. You know, you can't take the creators for granted. Absolutely.