Twitter Inc announced Thursday that it would discontinue the video-sharing mobile app Vine, as it moves to cut 9 percent of its workforce worldwide to keep costs down.
The decision comes on the heels of a failed attempt to sell Twitter as it fights against stagnant user growth and mounting competition from other social media platforms.
In a post published jointly by Twitter and Vine to the blog platform Medium, the social media services said that the Vine website would stay live even after the mobile app is discontinued, giving users the chance to download and save any videos.
“You’ll be able to access and download your Vines. We’ll be keeping the website online because we think it’s important to still be able to watch all the incredible Vines that have been made. You will be notified before we make any changes to the app or website,” Vine’s official handle tweeted.
A Twitter spokeswoman told Reuters the app will shutter in coming months but did not specify a date.
Twitter introduced Vine in January 2013 as a way for users to share small snippets of video that were six seconds or less. The service was popular with members of the microblogging site and spawned several so-called “Vine stars,” attracting millions of followers.
Social media users reeled over the news and Vine quickly became the top-trending topic on Twitter in the U.S. with over 1.64 million tweets.
