Vidme was a

video hosting service An online video platform (OVP), provided by a video hosting service, enables users to upload, convert, store and play back video content on the Internet, often via a structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally u ...

that launched to the public in 2014. It described itself as a hybrid between video hosting website

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and social news site

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

History

The company was founded in 2014 by Warren Shaeffer and Alex Benzer in Los Angeles, California, and was originally called Viddme. After gaining in popularity, Viddme purchased the domain for Vidme and changed its name. In April 2015, the site received a $3.2 million Series A round of funding. Investors in the seed round included

Mark Suster Mark Suster is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a managing partner at Upfront Ventures, the largest venture capital firm in Los Angeles. Suster is a prominent blogger in the startup venture capital world. Career In 1999, w ...

Upfront Ventures Upfront Ventures, formerly known as GRP Partners, is a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies. It is one of the largest venture capital firms in Los Angeles, with $2 billion in total raised funds. ...

and Reddit co-founder

Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Stev ...

. As of April 2015, Vidme had 30 million unique visitors per month. The following year, it received a $6 million round.

Closure

On December 1, 2017, after nearly four years of operation, Vidme announced on Reddit it would shut down on December 15, 2017. Vidme stopped accepting new uploads or new members at that time. The site's closure was due to, according to the company, not finding a sustainable model and due to an increase in competition. In particular,

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

(through YouTube),

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

were named by co-founder Warren Shaeffer as too competitive for Vidme. On their website the team has announced that they will be launching a new website called Digital Objects. (digitalobjects.art) which later was discontinued. Vidme was acquired by

Giphy Giphy ( ), styled as GIPHY, is an American online database and search engine that allows users to search for and share short looping videos with no sound that resemble animated GIF files. History Beginnings and early history Giphy was founded ...

and shortly after Bit Kitchen was renamed to Knowable once it was launched (Knowable.fyi) In July 2021, the Vid.me domain name was acquired by a

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

company. As a result, news articles and social media posts with an embedded Vidme video instead displayed hardcore pornography. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' were some of the major news sites that were affected.

References

{{Reflist American entertainment websites Internet properties established in 2014 Internet properties disestablished in 2017 2014 establishments in California Former video hosting services

History

Closure

See also

References