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Vine is dead, but... it lives on through digital users.

By Paige Tapia
Course: Language and Digital Media (Ling 3800)
Advisor: Prof. Kira Hall
LURA 2020

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My junior year at the 麻豆免费版下载 began with committing to new roommates and living in a 3-bedroom apartment for the first time. One roommate I had known since my first year at 麻豆免费版下载because I had lived with her twin sister. The other I had only just met, and I was soon introduced to her quirky and outgoing nature. It did not take long for us to learn that we all had something in common, the love of Vines.听

We found ourselves quoting our favorite Vines on a daily basis, but only with each other. We often heard others quoting Vines, but never as much as we did. It was almost like a ritual for us to find times to watch Vines together, if only to laugh while quoting the short phrases exactly. What was more interesting were the various reactions we received from others who interacted with us. We had some who loved our enthusiasm, quickly jumping in to join us without a second thought, while others laughed awkwardly out of confusion. Those who interacted with us regularly, such as significant others or close friends, would often say, 鈥淩eally? More Vines?鈥� But they also often stuck around and occasionally joined in.听

The Vine short-form video platform was shut down only one year prior to our moving in together in Fall 2018. But for us, it was as if Vines had never gone away because we kept them alive in our own way. YouTube made it easy for us to watch these short clips at any time of the day. We were not alone in our love of Vines; otherwise, montage videos with over twenty Vine clips would not exist.听

In the Spring of 2019, I was able to join Prof. Hall鈥檚 class titled 鈥淟anguage and Digital Media,鈥� a class never offered at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder before. I had not taken a linguistics class before, but this class piqued my interest because the thought of analyzing a subject that I am already studying at 麻豆免费版下载(in a different way) sounded exciting. I was introduced to terms I was somewhat familiar with and some that were completely new to me, such as remixing and remediation, processes that I demonstrate in my video essay. Many digital users understand popular trends and how to gain an audience by making viral content. But this course helped me name and understand the concepts flowing through the digital world. My project was focused on Vines not only due to the fact that I enjoy them, but also because the lessons I learned in this course helped me see why Vines are so quotable, and even nostalgic.

My argument is that the nostalgia expressed for the Vine platform is formed due to the easy citationality and recontextualization of the short-form videos. This connects with how the affordances of Vine create long-term attachments. Specifically, I explored how Vine is living on through a number of other multimodal platforms, such as YouTube or Snapchat. This exploration taught me a lot about my own personal connection to Vines, and how my use of Vine quotes helped to establish a sense of community with my friends. I have also learned that I am not alone. For example, a video posted to YouTube shows scenes from a Vine party in which everyone dressed up as their favorite Vine. A person at the party took the time to record some of their friends doing impressions of the Vines they came dressed as. It is this type of community-building through Vines that inspired my project on the remixing and remediation of digital content.听

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