Twitter kills Vine, fires 350 staff members

Twitter is axing its short-form video app Vine in the coming months following the announcement that it will lay off around 350 staff. The Vine website will remain live and videos can continue to be watched and downloaded, but uploading new Vines will seemingly no longer be possible.

Vine was acquired by Twitter at the end of 2012 and launched in January 2013. Despite estimates that it once had 100 million mobile and web users per month, Twitter has decided to cut it as it tries to turn a profit in 2017.

Twitter announced its 350 layoffs alongside its Q3 2016 earnings report, which exceeded its expectations, this morning. It’s said that the layoffs may have cost the company between $10 and $20 million, though it could save them between $50 million to $100 million per year.

The social media platform has had something of a turbulent time recently and less than two weeks ago it sacked its new VR manager after just 24 hours. Reports say that Twitter is looking to be bought out, but the fact that it is yet to turn a profit could stand in its way.

Are you disappointed to hear Vine is being discontinued? Let us know in the comments.