Benedict Townsend

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.

You can listen to Vine's Six Seconds That Changed the World on Global Player. Download it from the App Store or go to globalplayer.com. Vine Six 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.

You can listen to Vine's Six Seconds That Changed the World on Global Player. Download it from the App Store or go to globalplayer.com. Vine Six 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.

Narrative and creative by producer Kevya Cardoso, score and sound design by Patrick Lee, and mix by Chris James. Sophie Snelling is the executive producer, Al Riddell is head of factual podcasts, and Vicky Etchells is director of podcasts at Global. This is a Global Player original podcast.

Narrative and creative by producer Kevya Cardoso, score and sound design by Patrick Lee, and mix by Chris James. Sophie Snelling is the executive producer, Al Riddell is head of factual podcasts, and Vicky Etchells is director of podcasts at Global. This is a Global Player original podcast.

This is a Global Player original podcast.

This is a Global Player original podcast.

This is the strange story of the life and death of Vine, an app that changed the world in six seconds.

This is the strange story of the life and death of Vine, an app that changed the world in six seconds.

My name is Benedict Townsend. I'm the host of Scroll Deep, a pretty popular internet comedy and commentary show. I've been chronically online since 2005, but for me, no app has come close to the lightning in a bottle that was Vine. And many have tried. To this day, TikTokers try to reproduce videos that they believe emanate that rare, elusive quality known only as Vine energy.

My name is Benedict Townsend. I'm the host of Scroll Deep, a pretty popular internet comedy and commentary show. I've been chronically online since 2005, but for me, no app has come close to the lightning in a bottle that was Vine. And many have tried. To this day, TikTokers try to reproduce videos that they believe emanate that rare, elusive quality known only as Vine energy.

In 2015, the app had over 200 million active users. Two years later, it was dead. Vine left behind a legacy as puzzling as it is profound. And a decade later, we still don't really know who pulled the trigger.

In 2015, the app had over 200 million active users. Two years later, it was dead. Vine left behind a legacy as puzzling as it is profound. And a decade later, we still don't really know who pulled the trigger.