On November 8, 2018, one of Vine's co-founders, Dom Hoffman, confirmed that he was developing a new social network similar to this one but with the name Byte, which was expected to launch in 2019. However, it has finally been delayed until that month of January, when it has finally become official.
Byte is a new social network that is available for iOS and Android and that, at least for the moment, does not have a web version. It is a platform that has a format and function similar to that of TikTok, betting on the publication of vertical content and an infinite scroll in which the videos uploaded by users of the platform appear. In other respects, it maintains the original essence of Vine, that is, six-second videos, "likes you", comments and "loops."
Byte is not, therefore, a very different application to the extinct Vine, so the user can upload the videos he wants from his photo gallery of the mobile terminal or record them directly from the application itself, as could be done in Came. All this in an interface that is very simple and clean, in which only the videos, the number of loops it has achieved, the "likes" and the comments appear.
Their user profile page is also minimalist, betting on placing a profile photo, username and a small description. In this case, neither the number of followers nor the number of followed are shown in user profiles, so to know the statistics it is necessary to go to the settings section and click on "View my stats". There you will be able to see the followers, the loops of the videos and the loops that you have seen.
The whole system is based on a star system, so that the more followers you have, the more loops you get and the more loops you see, the more stars you will have. The rebytes, on the other hand, are what is equivalent to the retweet of Twitter, being publications that are not shown on the main page of the profiles, but remain hidden. To be able to see them, you have to click on the icon with the three dots that appears in the profile and click on the option «View rebytes».
Another of the relevant points of the application is the icon represented by a lightning bolt, which allows access to user notifications, while the "Explore" section is located in the magnifying glass. Through the latter, you can search by username or browse through the different existing categories, such as the most popular or categories by topic. The interface, in general, bears some similarity to Vine.
Regarding the options to be able to record videos, the application offers, as we have already mentioned, the possibility of directly recording the video from the application's camera or uploading a video from the gallery, in addition to being able to add frames or delete fragments of the recording.
Byte has reached the market at a time that is very difficult due to the high level of competition, since it is difficult for some platforms like Instagram to cope. This, with its Instagram Stories, its one-minute videos, its IGTV service, in addition to its direct and private messages, makes it the preferred social network for millions of users around the world, which leaves other platforms in a difficult situation. even Facebook, to which he belongs.
Its main competitor may be TikTok, a social network that is mainly focused on the younger audience and that has 500 million active users around the world, having great success but still very far from the data collected by a large platform and with great baggage such as Instagram.
For its part, Byte has managed in a short time to capture the interest of many users and its reception can be classified as positive, although there are still improvements to be made to the system, such as filtering comments. Its objective is to gain ground on the main platforms of the moment until it can be an alternative for users, something that is aware that it will not be easy.
It should be remembered that Vine, at the time, was a pioneer in allowing the publication of short and fast videos, but when Instagram decided to implement video functions on its platform, users decided to switch networks. In addition, from Vine they were not able to achieve an adaptation to the new times like Instagram or Snapchat, which achieved a rapid evolution.
On this occasion, Byte intends to face the rest and become an interesting platform and for this they have ensured that very soon they will present a partner program that they will use to pay content creators. In this way, they will seek, by compensating creators, to have more and more users and contribute to the growth of the platform, with more and more content on the network.
In order to compensate them, it is very likely that this reward system will be accompanied by the insertion of advertising or implement a sponsorship or subscription system, with which content creators can really receive a reward for being part of Byte and publishing content. on a regular basis.
At the moment, not much more can be said about this platform, which will have to be seen if it is able to deal effectively with other of the main social networks of the moment, a task that will not be easy at all and that, for To achieve this, you will have to try to achieve a clear differentiation from other networks. We will see over the next few months the degree of acceptance and popularity that Byte will reach, a few months that may turn out to be crucial for the future future of a platform in which its creator has high hopes.