Vine: Six Seconds That Changed The World
This is the story of the social media app that changed the face of the internet before it crashed and burned in just three short years. Vine was the future - until it wasn’t. How did a platform so popular and beloved just disappear? Like any self-respecting chronically-online person, Benedict Townsend needed answers. In this 8-part series he tracks down Vine’s founders, social media power players and some of the most famous Vine creators to find out what really happened. What he found? A bizarre story of genius, chaos, and betrayal—and the blueprint for everything that came next. If you want to understand TikTok, or the modern internet itself, you need to understand Vine.
Episodes
Introducing: Explosive Lies
If you enjoyed Vine: 6 Seconds that Changed the World, we think you'll love Explosive Lies - your next podcast binge. Jim McCormick was a cocky English salesman with an outrageous claim: a black plastic gadget that could sniff out bombs using “electromagnetic energy.” The science was pure fiction. But in the panic after 9/11, governments bought the lie - paying up to $60,000 for a device that star
Did We Bring Back Vine?
Vine is coming back, and we might have helped resurrect it. First, Elon Musk announced plans to revive Vine in “AI form”. A few months later, news broke that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey was backing another revival called diVine. The key difference? diVine runs on an open-source, decentralised server that blocks all AI content.So why are two of the wealthiest men in the world - and two of the most
8. Famous
Do you believe in life after Vine? On October 28, 2016, the app took its last breath. It left behind a bittersweet legacy that would shape the internet for years to come. In this episode, we unravel the truth behind the app’s demise: the million-dollar demands, the missed opportunities (lip-syncing, anyone?), and the seismic impact it had on creators and culture. With firsthand accounts from insid
7. The Battle of Vine Street
In a high stakes meeting with Vine’s top creators, a one-million-dollar demand threatens to upend the platform. What started as a push for collaboration spirals into chaos, with creators leveraging their power and Vine’s leadership scrambling to respond. Was this bold move the cause of Vine’s demise, or just one piece of a much larger story? Credits:Benedict Townsend - Host & CreatorMary
6. VIVs (Very Important Viners)
Vine is on the edge of collapse - creators are in open revolt, Instagram is circling, as Twitter turns a blind eye. With the sacred 6-second limit on the chopping block and creator trust hanging by a thread, time is running out. Enter Karyn, Vine’s newly hired Head of Creators – an outsider with a bold vision to save the app. Her strategy? A full-scale reinvention. But at a glittering Hollywood pa
5. Do It For The Vine
As tensions rise, battle lines are drawn. Creators want money. Leadership want control. Founders turn their back on their biggest stars. And Twitter watches from the sidelines as its $30 million acquisition flounders. Behind the scenes - Benedict and Mary chase down the one person who might know who really pulled the trigger.Credits:Benedict Townsend - Host & CreatorMary Goodhart - Producer &a
4. Not Demure
As Vine’s influence grew, the seeds of its destruction were being sown. Brands wanted in and things were getting competitive. While most creators experimented and responded organically to engagement, opportunistic newcomers saw Vine as something else: a system to game and they were willing to play dirty to win. Creators soon found themselves falling victim to rampant plagiarism — the digital world
3. Subway to Stardom
Vine is quickly becoming one of the world’s most downloaded apps, carving out a unique online identity. In this episode, some of Vine’s earliest creators share how luck, form, and strategy determined viral success and how they navigated the uncharted waters of online fame.Credits:Benedict Townsend - Host & CreatorMary Goodhart - Producer & CreatorKevyah Cardoso - Narrative & Creative P
2. Vine Street Confidential
The term “influencer” has entered the mainstream, in large part due to the frat house ecosystem of Viners established by brothers Logan and Jake Paul. In this episode, Benedict and Mary search for one of Vine’s elusive founders, whose idea to simplify mobile video editing transformed modern internet culture. We want to trace Vine back to its very inception, understand who funded it, forged it in f
1. Who Killed Vine?
Launched in 2013 after an early buyout by Twitter, Vine quickly grew into one of the fastest growing platforms on the internet. The app created an entirely new category of online content: short, user-generated videos. It became the home of online creativity, birthed beloved memes and viral trends, and introduced a whole new generation of celebrity: the influencer. So, how did an app that was ten s
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Do you remember Vine? The six-second video app that sparked a cultural revolution, launched careers, and laid the foundation for today’s TikTok obsession? In Vine: Six Seconds That Changed the World, comic and host Benedict Townsend takes you deep inside the rise and sudden fall of the internet’s most chaotic, creative playground.Featuring exclusive interviews with Vine creators, tech insiders, an
