It’s been three years since the Twitter-owned social app Vine was officially discontinued after executives were said to have struggled in turning the platform into a profitable business while quickly losing popularity to similar services. But it looks as if Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter last week, is curious to see if there’s still a demand for Vine, with the possible chance that it could make a comeback in the near future.
Musk, who has shared his plans to make a number of changes at Twitter, such as discontinuing lifetime bans and suspensions, took to the platform on Sunday night, asking his followers, “Bring back Vine?” The tweet, which has since amassed over 130k likes, saw YouTube star MrBeast chime in on the conversation, saying if the tech mogul was to bring the app back, “that’d be hilarious.”
Bring back Vine?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2022
Musk ended up responding to the internet personality with a follow-up question, asking him and other intrigued social users, “What could we do to make it better than TikTok,” which prompted thousands of fans to chime in by sharing their ideas in the comment section. Whether Vine would stand the chance of competing with TikTok, whose ad revenue is expected to reach $11.5 billion in ad revenue for 2022 by the end of the year, has yet to be seen.
Since Musk’s acquisition, there have been a number of noticeable changes made at Twitter, including the firing of several former executives. Given that a whopping $44 billion was paid to purchase the company, Musk has previously said he wants to give people back their voice and their right to freedom of speech, following ongoing past claims that those running Twitter prior to Musk’s takeover were restricting people’s content in a harsh manner.
Among the other changes Musk has implemented so far, most have been internal, such as the Twitter homepage, which now shows trending tweets and stories even for users who are not logged in as a user on the platform. Before, the homepage would simply show a login box.
What could we do to make it better than TikTok?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2022
Another potential change for the popular social media app is introducing a monthly fee for Twitter users to keep (or obtain) a verified badge next to their account handle. It’s believed that the fee would be around $25 a month, though it’s unclear if Musk would introduce cheaper prices for those looking to purchase up to 12 months at a time.
“The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” he confirmed in a tweet over the weekend, but he’s yet to speak on whether a verification tag will be subscription-based in the near future.