Vine

Vine's October 2016 shutdown by Twitter ended the 6-second video platform that created a new content format and generation of creators. Twitter had acquired Vine for $30 million before launch. But Twitter never monetized Vine effectively, losing creators to YouTube and Instagram. When Twitter faced its own struggles, Vine became expendable. The platform that pioneered short-form video was shut down just as the format it created was exploding. Vine demonstrated that being first matters less than sustaining the ecosystem.