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R.I.P. Vine: Twitter To Retire App In Financial Restructuring

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

We have an obituary now for a subject who was far too young, who was beloved and whose passing should be a reminder to all of us of our own mortality. Here's NPR's Rose Friedman on the death of Vine.

ROSE FRIEDMAN, BYLINE: Vine didn't die of natural causes. The 3-year-old app was killed off by its parent company, Twitter, which also says it will cut 9 percent of its workforce. Vine is an app for short videos. You can post six-second loops that play over and over. Mostly, it stood out for the incredible variety of videos, both professional and homemade. There were funny vines, racy vines, a whole vine channel devoted to Korean pop music.

(SOUNDBITE OF KOREAN POP MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing in Korean).

FRIEDMAN: There were comedy vines, like the guy who presses on a pile of rubber ducks to hear them scream...

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO, "DUCK ARMY")

FRIEDMAN: ...A vine the dog who learned how to play drums while her owner plays the guitar...

(SOUNDBITE OF VINE VIDEO, "SEVEN NATION ARMY BY THE WHITE STRIPES W/ MAPLE")

FRIEDMAN: ...Vines of kids dancing.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINE VIDEO, "DO IT FOR THE VINE")

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Singing) Do it for the vine.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: (Singing) I ain't (ph) going to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Singing) Do it for the vine.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: (Singing) I'm going to do it.

FRIEDMAN: Some people got famous on Vine, like Logan Paul, who has more than 9 million followers.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINE VIDEO, "WHEN YOUR HEADPHONES ARE IN AND YOU CAN'T TELL HOW LOUD YOU ARE")

PHARRELL WILLIAMS: (Singing) 'Cause I'm happy. Clap along if...

LOGAN PAUL: (Singing) If you feel like a room without a roof.

FRIEDMAN: And there were topical vines, like this one that Politico posted after hearing Bernie Sanders stump a few too many times.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINE VIDEO, "BERNIESANDERS LIKES TO TALK ABOUT WALL STREET")

BERNIE SANDERS: Wall Street - Wall Street - the Wall Street - legal behavior of Wall Street.

FRIEDMAN: Twitter and Vine want you to know that the videos aren't going away. They said they'll keep the website online because we think it's important to still be able to watch all the incredible Vines that have been made. So when what you really need is just to hear a cute baby laughing...

(SOUNDBITE OF VINE VIDEO, "BEST LAUGH EVER!")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Are you talking to me?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: (Laughter).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: No.

FRIEDMAN: ...You still can. Rose Friedman, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Rose Friedman is an Associate Editor for NPR's Arts, Books & Culture desk. She edits radio pieces on a range of subjects, including books, pop culture, fine arts, theater, obituaries and the occasional Harry Potter-check-in. She is also co-creator of NPR's annual Book Concierge and the podcast recommendation site Earbud.fm. In addition, Rose has edited commentaries for the network, as well as regular features like This Week's Must Read on All Things Considered.