Twitter to discontinue Vine mobile app

Sorry, Vine fans. The six-second looping video app is going away.

In a surprising move, Twitter on Thursday announced it will be discontinuing the Vine mobile app in the coming months. The announcement comes after Twitter today confirmed plans to lay off approximately 9 percent of its global workforce, or about 350 workers, as part of a company restructuring.

This may be an upsetting time for the Vine faithful, but rest assured that nothing is happening to the apps, website, or your Vines just yet. Twitter will notify users before it makes any changes.

“We value you, your Vines, and are going to do this the right way,” the Vine team and Twitter wrote in a blog post. “You’ll be able to access and download your Vines. We’ll be keeping the website online because we think it’s important to still be able to watch all the incredible Vines that have been made.”

The team promised to work closely with creators “to make sure your questions are answered.” Expect more details in the weeks and months to come, and notifications via the app when things start to change.

“To all the creators out there — thank you for taking a chance on this app back in the day,” the team wrote. “And of course, thank you to all of those who came to watch and laugh every day.”

Vine in June started moving beyond 6-second videos with a beta feature that lets you post videos up to 140 seconds. The app has made an effort to foster “Vine stars” to rival those who got their start on YouTube, but while a number of Vines have gone viral, six seconds is not a lot of time to make a connection with an audience. It’s also faced increased competition from Snapchat and Instagram, both of which allow people to post quick videos.

Meanwhile, Twitter CEO CEO Jack Dorsey in a statement today about the restructuring said the company plans to focus on driving growth by improving the core Twitter service. “We have a clear plan, and we’re making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth,” he said.

FILE – In this Feb. 2, 2013, file photo, a smartphone display shows the Twitter logo in Berlin, Germany (AP Photo/dpa, Soeren Stache, File)  (AP Photo/dpa, Soeren Stache, File)

Source

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/10/27/twitter-to-discontinue-vine-mobile-app.html