Taylor Lorenz

Essentially, these top creators at 1600 Vine were like the Vine mafia. They controlled what was popular on the app because the app was not algorithmic. It was very susceptible to manipulation by the top creators. And the top creators all joined together, about 20 of them.

Essentially, these top creators at 1600 Vine were like the Vine mafia. They controlled what was popular on the app because the app was not algorithmic. It was very susceptible to manipulation by the top creators. And the top creators all joined together, about 20 of them.

And they would plan out their content and they really created this click where like they would refine each other's content, essentially resharing each other's content and collaborate and manipulate what became popular on the app. You're a content creator. You post one video, you have it refined by the 20 other most popular creators.

And they would plan out their content and they really created this click where like they would refine each other's content, essentially resharing each other's content and collaborate and manipulate what became popular on the app. You're a content creator. You post one video, you have it refined by the 20 other most popular creators.

creators on the app like that's going to be a top video on the app now and they had this kind of cadence to their schedule they would wake up every morning they would meet off and down by the pool at 1600 vine they would brainstorm ideas script things out for the day spend the afternoon recording and then edit and post and yeah they had this machine going for a while

creators on the app like that's going to be a top video on the app now and they had this kind of cadence to their schedule they would wake up every morning they would meet off and down by the pool at 1600 vine they would brainstorm ideas script things out for the day spend the afternoon recording and then edit and post and yeah they had this machine going for a while

Oh my God. Okay. So MadCon was founded by this entrepreneur, Bart Bordelon. He had the idea for this sort of like teen tour of Vine stars. And so this was when you started to see basically a lot of content creators go on tour to make money because there was starting to bridge the kind of like digital and physical worlds. You started to see a lot of early Vine meetups just get like blow up.

Oh my God. Okay. So MadCon was founded by this entrepreneur, Bart Bordelon. He had the idea for this sort of like teen tour of Vine stars. And so this was when you started to see basically a lot of content creators go on tour to make money because there was starting to bridge the kind of like digital and physical worlds. You started to see a lot of early Vine meetups just get like blow up.

Like there was this early Vine meetup in Central Park with, I think it was Nicholas Megalis, Rudy Mancuso, but some of the top creators on the app and literally hundreds of people came. They swarmed Central Park. It got shut down by the police.

Like there was this early Vine meetup in Central Park with, I think it was Nicholas Megalis, Rudy Mancuso, but some of the top creators on the app and literally hundreds of people came. They swarmed Central Park. It got shut down by the police.

And so I think Bart and others started to recognize the opportunity of kind of IRL events with Viners. And so the idea was to take these, you know, this young talent from Vine and put them on a traveling tour where they would perform for, you know, hordes of adoring teenage fans, mostly girls.

And so I think Bart and others started to recognize the opportunity of kind of IRL events with Viners. And so the idea was to take these, you know, this young talent from Vine and put them on a traveling tour where they would perform for, you know, hordes of adoring teenage fans, mostly girls.

I know, right? Perform. I mean, this is what the whole problem with these tours is.

I know, right? Perform. I mean, this is what the whole problem with these tours is.

Well, I will say, listen, Shawn Mendes carried Madcon on his back because Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes, obviously, as everyone knows now, is like a very successful musician. So he performed music. Mostly it was just doing like funny skits and jokes in front of the audience because these boys didn't have any kind of discernible skills.

Well, I will say, listen, Shawn Mendes carried Madcon on his back because Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes, obviously, as everyone knows now, is like a very successful musician. So he performed music. Mostly it was just doing like funny skits and jokes in front of the audience because these boys didn't have any kind of discernible skills.

like talents that they were really known for outside just like kind of being hot and like making funny videos like belatable videos um and so they would get up on stage and they would mostly just kind of like joke around with each other but there wasn't it wasn't i mean this is why a lot of these tours failed in the end is because they couldn't really perform but the people that came really didn't care that much like a lot of the young kids didn't care that much because they just wanted to meet their favorite vine star

like talents that they were really known for outside just like kind of being hot and like making funny videos like belatable videos um and so they would get up on stage and they would mostly just kind of like joke around with each other but there wasn't it wasn't i mean this is why a lot of these tours failed in the end is because they couldn't really perform but the people that came really didn't care that much like a lot of the young kids didn't care that much because they just wanted to meet their favorite vine star

The founders of Vine really did not like the most successful creators on the app. Vine servers would get a little traction, have a little success, and then the management would come in and try and thwart them. I mean, I use one example in my book where they rolled out these vanity URLs, which made it really easy.

The founders of Vine really did not like the most successful creators on the app. Vine servers would get a little traction, have a little success, and then the management would come in and try and thwart them. I mean, I use one example in my book where they rolled out these vanity URLs, which made it really easy.