Will Vine have a post-Twitter life?
Although originally Twitter announced that it would be shutting Vine down, there are now reports that the company is entertaining multiple offers for its short video app service.
Hayatto Noguchi, a Japanese Vine artist, shows his work on a smartphone during an interview with The Associated Press in Tokyo.
Eugene Hoshiko/AP/File
Although Twitter has said it is mulling a Vine shutdown, there may be hope for the video sharing app after all.
Late last month Twitter announced that it would shut down the short video sharing app, which it acquired in 2012 for approximately $30 million, much to the chagrin of avid Vine users across America. But now it has been reported that Twitter may sell the app instead of shutting it down completely, and that there are a number of interested buyers.
“While TechCrunch couldn’t confirm the names of any of the companies interested in Vine, a rumored bidder was Japanese messaging and gaming company LINE,” TechCrunch reported, adding, “We’ve learned that Twitter has narrowed the pool from more than 10 bidders to around 5.”
The tech news site says it discovered the potential deal from several sources, although it remains unable to confirm the identity of any of the specific bidders.
Vine is best known as a video sharing application that allows users to share brief, six-second videos. The short-clip format inspired users to get creative with the time allowed, and even boosted some to stardom, such as French Vine star Jerome Jarre.
Twitter announced its plans to shut down the app on October 27, although it also said it had plans to preserve an archive of old Vine videos on the app website.
Even if it sells, Vine may not be a cash cow for Twitter. TechCrunch is reporting that some of the offers are for less than $10 million. Earlier this fall, The New York Times reported that Vine cost $10 million per month to run.
If Twitter does sell Vine, however, it does not mean the connection between the two will be severed forever. Instead, Twitter would continue to play Vine videos on its feed, and the social media platform could still earn money from sponsored content on Vine.
There are also pitfalls. If Vine’s purchaser fails to keep the app viable, it could actually cost Twitter money due to the association between the two. And if Vine decides to shut down the archive of user content after a sale, Twitter users may be upset.
Still, Twitter’s decision to even consider potential sales instead of shutting Vine down altogether may say much about the app’s continued popularity.