Benedict Townsend

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.

Along with my producer Mary, I tracked down an elusive founder, tech journalists, popular creators, rivals, and perhaps most importantly, former Twitter staffers who were in the room when Vine drew its very last breath. But first, let me take you back to the very beginning. That's what the internet sounded like back in 2005. It was a simpler time on the World Wide Web. Network speeds were slower.

Along with my producer Mary, I tracked down an elusive founder, tech journalists, popular creators, rivals, and perhaps most importantly, former Twitter staffers who were in the room when Vine drew its very last breath. But first, let me take you back to the very beginning. That's what the internet sounded like back in 2005. It was a simpler time on the World Wide Web. Network speeds were slower.

No one had heard of an iPhone. We wrote blog posts, not tweets. And social media was still in its MySpace adolescence.

No one had heard of an iPhone. We wrote blog posts, not tweets. And social media was still in its MySpace adolescence.

The founder of YouTube had just uploaded its first ever video, 19 seconds of his friend in front of San Diego Zoo's elephant enclosure, entitled Me at the Zoo.

The founder of YouTube had just uploaded its first ever video, 19 seconds of his friend in front of San Diego Zoo's elephant enclosure, entitled Me at the Zoo.

Fast forward a decade, it's 2015. The internet was moving at warp speed, and at the heart of it all was a tiny, looping app called Vibe. It started with an idea so simple it was revolutionary.

Fast forward a decade, it's 2015. The internet was moving at warp speed, and at the heart of it all was a tiny, looping app called Vibe. It started with an idea so simple it was revolutionary.