Vine Boasts 40M Users Despite Competition from Instagram

In the seven months since Twitter launched Vine, an app designed to let users create and share six-second long looping videos, the new social network has had its ups and downs. From turbulent early days, to the addition of an Android app and, most recently, the introduction of 15-second videos by competitor Instagram. Today, Vine celebrated its 40 millionth user on Twitter, taking the opportunity to thank its growing and thriving community.

Vine first launched exclusively on iOS back in Jan., and soon rocketed to the top of the App Store's most-downloaded list. By the time the app landed on Android in June it already boasted 13 million users. Soon afterward, Facebook called a press conference to announce Instagram videos, leaving many to assume Vine didn't stand a chance. Still, the Twitter-backed app fought back with improved channels and the added ability to ReVine, helping popular videos and budding comedians go viral.

Since then, Vine has continued to grow. Users have organized massive real-world meet-ups in both NY and California, traveled across the country to shoot collaborative videos, and have even turned publishing to the the app into a full-time-job. We can't wait to see what comes next as the next 40 million users get online.