Benedict Townsend

Here's Ryan again. The top Vine stars moved into one apartment building together on Vine Street in LA and basically created like a video views cartel where they would all just appear in each other's videos and remain in the top 10 videos on the app.

Here's Ryan again. The top Vine stars moved into one apartment building together on Vine Street in LA and basically created like a video views cartel where they would all just appear in each other's videos and remain in the top 10 videos on the app.

It felt like the feature had a detrimental effect on how creators were working and what they were posting. Manon Matthews, you remember her? She was the stand-up who tried Vine for a laugh. Well, at this point, she had millions of followers, but she still found herself dwarfed in sheer numbers by the very biggest creators, whose follower counts could be almost 10 times that.

It felt like the feature had a detrimental effect on how creators were working and what they were posting. Manon Matthews, you remember her? She was the stand-up who tried Vine for a laugh. Well, at this point, she had millions of followers, but she still found herself dwarfed in sheer numbers by the very biggest creators, whose follower counts could be almost 10 times that.

For Manon, it felt like the feature had a detrimental effect on how creators were working and what they were posting.

For Manon, it felt like the feature had a detrimental effect on how creators were working and what they were posting.

Kenny Knox takes a slightly more forgiving view.

Kenny Knox takes a slightly more forgiving view.

It was fair game. You're paying homage. IB, by the way, stands for Idea By or Inspired By, and it's a little polite hat tip to acknowledge an original creator. Honestly, that's often all creators are looking for, just a little bit of acknowledgement. It's a pretty low bar, but failing to reach that bar would not end well for you, especially on Vine.

It was fair game. You're paying homage. IB, by the way, stands for Idea By or Inspired By, and it's a little polite hat tip to acknowledge an original creator. Honestly, that's often all creators are looking for, just a little bit of acknowledgement. It's a pretty low bar, but failing to reach that bar would not end well for you, especially on Vine.

For Brandon, the attitude turned from resentment to a sense of, well, if you can't beat them, join them.

For Brandon, the attitude turned from resentment to a sense of, well, if you can't beat them, join them.

Pandora's box was open, and chaos, not the fun, spontaneous kind, but the slightly more scary kind, now reigned. The vine you knew, the scrappy underdog of creativity, that was gone, replaced by a ruthless, cutthroat ecosystem where survival meant playing the game. And for those who refused, well, the game played them.

Pandora's box was open, and chaos, not the fun, spontaneous kind, but the slightly more scary kind, now reigned. The vine you knew, the scrappy underdog of creativity, that was gone, replaced by a ruthless, cutthroat ecosystem where survival meant playing the game. And for those who refused, well, the game played them.

And as creators fought to outshine each other, their frustrations started to shift to a much bigger opponent— Vine itself. Vine is probably the best job and the worst job I'll ever have. But hey, it wasn't all bad. Unless you were a founder of Vine, because things were about to get really messy.

And as creators fought to outshine each other, their frustrations started to shift to a much bigger opponent— Vine itself. Vine is probably the best job and the worst job I'll ever have. But hey, it wasn't all bad. Unless you were a founder of Vine, because things were about to get really messy.

Next time, the Vine mafia tightens its grip. Creators turn against the empire and, plot twist, the empire starts eating itself. Oh, and the app's leadership? Let's just say their six seconds at the top was running out. and fast.

Next time, the Vine mafia tightens its grip. Creators turn against the empire and, plot twist, the empire starts eating itself. Oh, and the app's leadership? Let's just say their six seconds at the top was running out. and fast.

I hope you're still with us, because this marble hasn't even hit the bucket yet. You can listen to Vine's 6 Seconds That Changed the World on Global Player. Download it from the App Store or go to globalplayer.com. Vine's 6 Seconds That Changed the World is a Global Original podcast, created and hosted by me, Benedict Townsend, and produced by my co-creator, Mary Goodheart.

I hope you're still with us, because this marble hasn't even hit the bucket yet. You can listen to Vine's 6 Seconds That Changed the World on Global Player. Download it from the App Store or go to globalplayer.com. Vine's 6 Seconds That Changed the World is a Global Original podcast, created and hosted by me, Benedict Townsend, and produced by my co-creator, Mary Goodheart.