Benedict Townsend

Praise from Ryan Broderick is praise indeed. He's one of those tech reporters who are so deeply immersed in the online world, he could probably give you a definitive ranking of every pixel on Google's homepage. In 2013, he was fully tuned in as Vine became a household name.

Praise from Ryan Broderick is praise indeed. He's one of those tech reporters who are so deeply immersed in the online world, he could probably give you a definitive ranking of every pixel on Google's homepage. In 2013, he was fully tuned in as Vine became a household name.

Around middle 2013, 2014, you started to see... like 27 vines, you've got to watch, you know, it was, it was that era, this massive influx of digital publishers, just, you know, writing up any viral moment and then sending it out to Facebook. Right.

Around middle 2013, 2014, you started to see... like 27 vines, you've got to watch, you know, it was, it was that era, this massive influx of digital publishers, just, you know, writing up any viral moment and then sending it out to Facebook. Right.

And that era was, you know, it's very silly to look back on now, but I think it was very useful for identifying when something had kind of broken through the zeitgeist, when a content type could become something that your parents could read on Facebook.

And that era was, you know, it's very silly to look back on now, but I think it was very useful for identifying when something had kind of broken through the zeitgeist, when a content type could become something that your parents could read on Facebook.

Vine started out as this kind of punk, rogue, creative machine, punching way above its weight. With a relatively small pool of creators, no rules, and almost no algorithm, for Ryan, it was a kind of magic.

Vine started out as this kind of punk, rogue, creative machine, punching way above its weight. With a relatively small pool of creators, no rules, and almost no algorithm, for Ryan, it was a kind of magic.

So I think it was changed eventually, but at first you couldn't upload video into Vine. You had to film the video with Vine. So there was this implied spontaneity, this sort of implied magic where it's like, wow, I captured this six-second clip and it's crazy. I mean, a lot of it was like very typical for the era of viral video stuff. So it was just like funny moments.

So I think it was changed eventually, but at first you couldn't upload video into Vine. You had to film the video with Vine. So there was this implied spontaneity, this sort of implied magic where it's like, wow, I captured this six-second clip and it's crazy. I mean, a lot of it was like very typical for the era of viral video stuff. So it was just like funny moments.

It was people doing pranks or extreme behavior in public. It wasn't something you edited. It was just something you filmed. And a lot of the ones that went viral had like a very specific feel to them, which was like, oh, I managed to capture this like six seconds of incredible video content.

It was people doing pranks or extreme behavior in public. It wasn't something you edited. It was just something you filmed. And a lot of the ones that went viral had like a very specific feel to them, which was like, oh, I managed to capture this like six seconds of incredible video content.

That magical, ephemeral quality that's since been dubbed Vine energy. With more users than ever before and a place securely in the mainstream, Vine content hit its second wave. The evolution came in part alongside subtle design and interface changes, like the introduction of an upload function.

That magical, ephemeral quality that's since been dubbed Vine energy. With more users than ever before and a place securely in the mainstream, Vine content hit its second wave. The evolution came in part alongside subtle design and interface changes, like the introduction of an upload function.

Now videos no longer had to be captured directly in the app, but could be created externally and then loaded in. This opened up a whole new world of creativity, don't get me wrong, but it also traded off a lot of the spontaneity that had made the app a success in the first place.

Now videos no longer had to be captured directly in the app, but could be created externally and then loaded in. This opened up a whole new world of creativity, don't get me wrong, but it also traded off a lot of the spontaneity that had made the app a success in the first place.

then once you could start to upload videos to vine the nature of what was going viral there changed a little bit it became a little more high concept and that's when you get like the real we now say like oh this tiktok has vine energy that's what we're talking about people who are doing sort of absurd skits weird art projects that are like really funny but in a really short way and it'll cut like right at the right moment i have

then once you could start to upload videos to vine the nature of what was going viral there changed a little bit it became a little more high concept and that's when you get like the real we now say like oh this tiktok has vine energy that's what we're talking about people who are doing sort of absurd skits weird art projects that are like really funny but in a really short way and it'll cut like right at the right moment i have

a million examples of this sort of thing. Describing them out loud always sounds like describing a dream. It doesn't really make a lot of sense. But there's one really good series that I loved, which was this guy, he's outside of his apartment. There's a woman up at the window on the second floor and he's like, toss me my keys. And then she throws a printer.

a million examples of this sort of thing. Describing them out loud always sounds like describing a dream. It doesn't really make a lot of sense. But there's one really good series that I loved, which was this guy, he's outside of his apartment. There's a woman up at the window on the second floor and he's like, toss me my keys. And then she throws a printer.