On January 24th, 2020, seven years to the date after Vine’s original launch, the video app’s co-founder Dom Hofmann announced the quiet launch of Vine’s legacy app Byte for both iOS and Android devices. Byte boasted 1.3 Million downloads in just its first week, Sensortower reports, surpassing TikTok for top free app in the iOS app store that week. Download frequency has since tapered off as Byte works through some initial bugs and new rollouts, but we expect to see growth continue as the app rides on Vine’s prior success.

Byte Breakdown

Like its predecessor, Byte is a short-form 6-second video sharing platform. Users can shoot video in-app or upload and share video clips.

Unlike its short-form video app competitors–Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram–Byte currently lacks in-app features like AR filters and editing tools. It’s likely that Byte will be adding these features in order to stay competitive, although part of Vine’s original allure was its simplicity and focus on pushing the creative boundaries of a simple 6-second loop.

Byte recently took to their online forum to announce plans for their pilot program for creator monetization, structured with partner pool brackets based on viewership in a 120 day window. For the time being their partner program will be invite only, with submissions for consideration. The partner program is expected to launch in late spring.

Byte was clear regarding their plans for ad display in their platform:

It seems their plan may be similar to Snapchat’s ad structure, which keeps ads segregated from most organic app activity, unlike TikTok and Instagram which integrate ads in the feed alongside organic user posts. At the time of publishing, no ads could be readily located on the Byte explore page.

Who’s On Byte

Byte’s initial audience is overwhelmingly American, with 70% of its first week downloads coming from the US.

Byte originally debuted as a 12+ app, perhaps to attract a younger Gen Z audience similar to competitor app TikTok. Byte’s feed was immediately inundated with adult humor and inappropriate content for a younger audience, and has since increased the age gate to 17+ while content moderators work to enforce community guidelines.

Although they haven’t shared age demographics yet, it’s reasonable to guess that their audience is likely older Gen Z to Millennial since that was the Vine demographic.

Byte Bugs

Byte has run into some spam issues right off the bat, with many early adopters uploading mass, inappropriate content to rack up impressions, and rampant “follow for follow” comments as creators attempt to build their audiences to qualify for the pilot partnership program. Hofmann has addressed the spam and content issues and shares plans to ramp up moderation. In comparison to its first week, today’s Byte reflects an improvement in content moderation.

There have also been concerns around many early adopters claiming celebrity and big-brand account names that they have no right to. Byte has acknowledged the problem and promised to be working on a remedy. In the meantime, it may be a good idea to claim your brand’s account now. TikTok basically exploded overnight, so there’s no telling what could be in store as Byte grows.

What to Watch

One of Vine’s biggest pitfalls was not quite nailing their monetization program for creators, lacking incentive for top creators to continue posting, and motivation for emerging creators to step up their game.

This is something TikTok is still experimenting with, and interestingly enough many brands active on their platform forego advertising with the app in favor of working directly with star TikTokers. Because of this, TikTok’s still experimental monetization program generates revenue that pales in comparison to competitor platforms like Facebook and Twitter which each rake in billions in ad revenue each year.

Since Vine’s demise, the social landscape has shifted quite heavily to an emphasis on content monetization for top creators. “The most important part of Vine has always been the people that are on it,” comments Hofmann in a 2016 interview with the Verge following Vine’s shutdown under parent company Twitter.

It seems Hofmann has brought this same sentiment with him to the creation of Byte, confirming plans to ensure monetization for creators even if they have to dip into Byte funds. They plan to move to an ad-share model with 100% of initial ad revenue going to creators in the pilot program, so marketers should keep an eye out for advertising opportunities as the app’s audience grows.

We’ll be updating this post as more Byte information emerges, sign up for our newsletter below to stay up to date on Social Media News.