Benedict Townsend

Definitely. I mean, yeah, it's one of those inventions that once you have it, you can't imagine life without it. But I mean, how many articles are written every day about how autoplay video is breaking our brains?

Definitely. I mean, yeah, it's one of those inventions that once you have it, you can't imagine life without it. But I mean, how many articles are written every day about how autoplay video is breaking our brains?

But I guess it's a Pandora's box thing, right? Like, if they didn't invent it, maybe someone else would have. I don't know how much blame you can lay at their feet. Could they have really known back then what they were unleashing? Yeah. I'm always hung up that they popularised looping video.

But I guess it's a Pandora's box thing, right? Like, if they didn't invent it, maybe someone else would have. I don't know how much blame you can lay at their feet. Could they have really known back then what they were unleashing? Yeah. I'm always hung up that they popularised looping video.

Because looping video, now it's synonymous with TikTok, but, you know, in 2013, that was basically witchcraft. You want to watch a video, you hit play, you watch it to the end, and it ends. But by removing a beginning and the end, you kind of stretch the concept of a video entirely into something else. It's not an obvious idea, necessarily.

Because looping video, now it's synonymous with TikTok, but, you know, in 2013, that was basically witchcraft. You want to watch a video, you hit play, you watch it to the end, and it ends. But by removing a beginning and the end, you kind of stretch the concept of a video entirely into something else. It's not an obvious idea, necessarily.

That's interesting because I've heard this mentioned that it's longer than six seconds, but I thought that it was longer than six to facilitate the loop, but actually it sort of, to trick the user in a positive way into making them think they've got enough time.

That's interesting because I've heard this mentioned that it's longer than six seconds, but I thought that it was longer than six to facilitate the loop, but actually it sort of, to trick the user in a positive way into making them think they've got enough time.

Remember that little tidbit for your next pub quiz? But enough shop talk. Let's jump back into the story. So Vine had money. They had the backer. And they had some very exciting features. But the team were barreling towards a launch without one crucial element. A name. It was Dom who first suggested Vine. Can you remember any of the rejected names?

Remember that little tidbit for your next pub quiz? But enough shop talk. Let's jump back into the story. So Vine had money. They had the backer. And they had some very exciting features. But the team were barreling towards a launch without one crucial element. A name. It was Dom who first suggested Vine. Can you remember any of the rejected names?

On the 23rd of January 2013, just three months after Twitter bought it out, Vine was in the greasy little palms of the public. This was make or break. I mean, what do you remember of launch day?

On the 23rd of January 2013, just three months after Twitter bought it out, Vine was in the greasy little palms of the public. This was make or break. I mean, what do you remember of launch day?

The engineering team's efforts paid off. Vine didn't crash. It was a dream come true for Russ. Because, I mean, you personally, you'd come from the former USSR, and now you're sort of, you've come to the US and, you know, basically conquered this massive US tech company. Does that feel like a sort of personal... hero's journey for you?

The engineering team's efforts paid off. Vine didn't crash. It was a dream come true for Russ. Because, I mean, you personally, you'd come from the former USSR, and now you're sort of, you've come to the US and, you know, basically conquered this massive US tech company. Does that feel like a sort of personal... hero's journey for you?

From the imagination of its three founders, in no time at all, Vine was in the hands of the public, but never in their wildest dreams or worst nightmares could they have predicted the eruption brewing beneath their feet. How their little easy-to-record, easy-to-share video tool would disrupt celebrity, revolutionise entertainment, change the way we live online, and die all too soon.

From the imagination of its three founders, in no time at all, Vine was in the hands of the public, but never in their wildest dreams or worst nightmares could they have predicted the eruption brewing beneath their feet. How their little easy-to-record, easy-to-share video tool would disrupt celebrity, revolutionise entertainment, change the way we live online, and die all too soon.

As any founder will tell you, it's not the creator that defines what an app does. It's the user. And on the horizon, Viners were amassing. It was all kind of merging into one big cartel kind of thing, if you know what I mean. It was brilliant. Vine was a new frontier, and some of its earliest creators were the first to crack the code of going viral.

As any founder will tell you, it's not the creator that defines what an app does. It's the user. And on the horizon, Viners were amassing. It was all kind of merging into one big cartel kind of thing, if you know what I mean. It was brilliant. Vine was a new frontier, and some of its earliest creators were the first to crack the code of going viral.

But what made some soar, while others faded into the scroll? In the next episode, the scrappy, weird Wild West days of early Vine and the pioneers who turned six seconds into a new kind of fame.

But what made some soar, while others faded into the scroll? In the next episode, the scrappy, weird Wild West days of early Vine and the pioneers who turned six seconds into a new kind of fame.