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image of “This is so Vine coded”

Abstract

For several years, social media users have compared TikTok and the defunct short-video platform Vine through references to specific Vine videos and by attributing “Vine energy” to Vine-like tiktoks. Based on qualitative coding of 201 tiktoks and analysis of their comments, this article examines both discourse practices. I analyze how TikTok users create intertextual references to Vine and offer a taxonomy of communicative modes and platform features employed for multimodal cross-platform intertextual reference. I identify the semiotic features shared by tiktoks with “Vine energy,” which I argue constitutes a distinct short-form genre, and demonstrate that they are based on a partial collective memory of Vine. Using the framework of media(ted) nostalgia, I argue that fans’ positively biased participatory media texts have indelibly shaped how Vine is remembered on TikTok. Through my analysis I show that vine references and “Vine energy” comments both index “knowledgeable fan” identity and create affiliation between TikTok users through expression and recognition of shared knowledge.

Available under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
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2026-03-17
2026-04-21
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: nostalgia ; genre ; TikTok ; Vine ; media intertextuality ; multimodality
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