We lost Vine in January, and boy did the world miss those 6-second videos in 2017.
Lady Gaga falling from the sky during the Super Bowl halftime show; Melania Trump swatting away her husband’s hand; the president throwing paper towels into crowds of Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Maria survivors—2017 was full of vine-able moments, and yet, the application that once mashed video and audio of sports games, inappropriate speeches, and everyday life was available as but a shell of its former self.
With the end of Vine came Vine Camera, a phone application that allowed users to create and share longer versions of these videos. But the app’s limited functions left former viners and fans scratching their heads, and flocking to YouTube and Musical.ly instead.
The app’s low favorability (a measly 1.5 stars on the Apple App Store) didn’t detract all users: The Vine Camera videos posted by earnest folks were no match for the old days, but believers in Vine Camera ended up creating something perhaps more genuine, or even ethereal.
These Vine Camera videos are reminiscent of the early days of Vine, when jerky, jump-cut videos showcasing everyday life, creativity, and even unfunny people trying their best to impress the internet hit the popular pages. Scrolling through these videos made with Vine Camera feels like when you could open the app in 2013 and watch content spun from the mind of nobodies—people who weren’t monetized personalities. Before Jessi Vazquez, Logan Paul, and Liza Koshy were famous on Vine, they were just people who made other people laugh.
If this platform is any indication of what we might be able to expect for V2, the upcoming Vine reboot announced by co-creator Dom Hofmann earlier this month, then we might have something to look forward to in 2018, after all.
The best Vine Camera videos of 2017:
Of course, we had a huge early resurgence of people “trying out” the app for the first time, as if it was any more complicated than using the original Vine itself.
How do I use vine camera? pic.twitter.com/sE1mOR75ap
— Danielle Covello (@Daniell34271381) December 9, 2017
Sooo I downloaded vine camera and…… pic.twitter.com/1VqF6rjoBZ
— Eef💕 (@Wentelteeffjes) November 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/AaronJenkinsAK/status/853509120044826624
What really brought Vine Camera back to its roots were the random posts people made—short moments of life, strange interactions, and truly disturbing facial expressions. Yes, the golden days of Vine, anew.
Sledding into #Friday like…(first “Vine Camera” post) pic.twitter.com/QLiRLijtPl
— Frank Danna (@erskine) January 19, 2017
I checked my vine camera for the first time in forever and found this in my drafts and I’m confused by any of this context pic.twitter.com/723XTtHkQo
— sensei la dew (@jongoddamn) April 26, 2017
I made this with Vine Camera pic.twitter.com/F4PCMdC02i
— Jimmy Mullen (@JimmyRWD) June 2, 2017
https://twitter.com/freckledoe/status/903838678375579649
Going to have to use vine camera more. pic.twitter.com/xtQ9jSVLdO
— truckin (@KMMcCammack) November 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/b_rad55/status/943194575459536896
https://twitter.com/joe_rays/status/913499214629531648
https://twitter.com/ps_Asfia/status/842614041872814081
https://twitter.com/JayceWeil/status/937870119732170752
https://twitter.com/_Laneykrebs/status/855286504029003776
https://twitter.com/FuPoo/status/936907300056342528
Made with Vine Camera. #nyc #SubwayJams pic.twitter.com/E6NYqytqpr
— noahlz@mastodon.social (@noahlz) February 10, 2017
And no Vine iteration would be Vine without people attempting to launch their comedy careers off the platform—as detrimental as that might have been for the app in the first place.
vine camera pic.twitter.com/djx20Lz0DN
— chris melberger (@chrismelberger) January 31, 2017
i should not be given access to vine camera pic.twitter.com/up3OgOOvHg
— quinn (@prismotron) August 10, 2017
So I got vine camera practicing for vine2 and… pic.twitter.com/9GO6HHqtMh
— Emma moved accounts (@EmmaTheW1tch) December 18, 2017
this is what happens when you dont have vine so you succumb to the Vine Camera pic.twitter.com/3gmHeprlA9
— goat king•✡︎ (@goatkinq) June 29, 2017
Vine camera is shook pic.twitter.com/fFvLqNHThl
— ROBLOX Updates (@gamer134456) November 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/nick_colletti/status/857820386880217088
made with vine camera😤😩(&alsothevestthingever) pic.twitter.com/AZatvvQakk
— briteorange (@ugh_azra) March 14, 2017
With Twitter enabling 6-second Camera Vine videos to automatically loop, camera tricks, guitar riffs, and other pieces of art have continued to find their place on the app.
I still mess with the Vine camera👌🏽 pic.twitter.com/Te7UeSpSz7
— Woody. (@Awoodward15) April 7, 2017
Made with vine camera #vinereturn pic.twitter.com/R86Ib3zpch
— Dylen J. Marin (@dylen_marin) August 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/letsfvckcalum/status/876880280556011520
I waste so many 6 seconds of my life trying to loop with vine camera. I give up!!!! 😩 pic.twitter.com/Sw2SvxjlOO
— 🕳Toygasm (@Dollpowerx) March 28, 2017
#nearperfectloop via Vine Camera pic.twitter.com/EX5AgkYWbV
— EnthusedKyle (@ktalbotmurph) November 21, 2017
Oh Vine. I have missed you so! But Vine camera can come in handy sometimes. pic.twitter.com/zKaZmdSdEa
— Mike Meehan (@iammrmeehan) October 25, 2017
＼Vine Camera／
— ferret（フェレット） (@ferretplus) January 23, 2017
Vine終了に伴ってリリースされた「Vine Camera」で撮影してみました！
Twitterで6.5秒以下の動画をアップすると、自動でループする仕様になっています♪ pic.twitter.com/ehUJCdggBt
Undoubtedly, much of Vine Camera’s videos were used to, well, complain about Vine’s absence and the seeming pointlessness of Vine Camera itself.
No one asked for a “vine camera” pic.twitter.com/RwJ9PKtdDO
— emma jean (@EmmaJFurniss) January 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/itswilliam45/status/919245385943699456
https://twitter.com/nonehitwonder/status/935917064719687680
New phone (who dis) so I downloaded vine camera for a laugh.
— Charlie Wilson (@chwilson) November 11, 2017
(The first clip is my genuine reaction to seeing that green bar in the first time for almost a year) pic.twitter.com/vXPz6knZ9L
https://twitter.com/XwasteXawayX/status/823587273925083137
Thank you for the sad, awkward, middle school phase of Vine, Vine Camera. We will cherish these memories forever—or just long enough for V2 to get off the ground.
