Byte is the second Vine.

Byte is an app made by the creator of Vine, Dan Hofmann to come back into the social media realm after the original was shut down.  This app is designed for people to create six second videos to share with friends and the general app’s community. (“Byte… mobile” 2020)

However, the logistics of the platform are not too thought out yet – as it is still in beta stages.  Issues like crashing, no way of blocking, and no hashtags to connect communities are in existence.  But, Perhaps the largest issue on the platform is spam.  Being dubbed “spam bots,” these accounts are only made to get the greatest amount of random followers by leaving unwarranted comments and messages. (“Byte… spam” 2020)

It is possible this app was only now created because of TikTok’s popularity, with many people comparing it to the original Vine.  There had been talks of a “Vine 2” years ago, but it never came to light.  However, the creators plan to use their history to their advantage in terms of nostalgia (“What is Byte?” 2020).  By returning to the original six second platform, removed from all of the gimmicky aspects on TikTok, the app is expected to have many participators.  Already according to slate.com, a few people who were once popular on Vine have made a debut in this app. (2020)

It is interesting to see how this new platform will pan out.  It may lose it’s footing against the continuously growing TikTok, or enough people might miss the original, that they wont want to miss out on this opportunity.  In class we spoke about the different abilities of different platforms.  It is possible this is too similar to pre-existing concepts.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/25/tech/byte-app-tiktok-vine/index.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/what-byte-internet-s-new-old-school-short-form-video-n1123866

https://slate.com/technology/2020/01/byte-vine-spam-ios-android-fake-accounts.html