Daz Black, Ben Phillips and Tish Simmonds pay tribute as Vine closes

Viners are paying tribute to the video sharing app as it shuts down after four years.

Twitter announced it was closing the six-second clip-sharing service in October but it's still not clear why.

Around the same time it said it was cutting 9% of its workforce following slow growth of the social network.

"I was still enjoying the platform and it's a great shame it's closing," explains Daz Black, the most followed British Viner.

Daz has more than three million followers on his channel, where his comedies and character impressions have been looped (viewed) more than one billion times.

Watch his Fashion Police Vine here.

The 31-year-old says he is "saddened" and "annoyed" at Twitter's decision to close the app.

"It's got me to where I am today and opened the door to so many opportunities," he tells Newsbeat.

Daz has been able to pursue acting, something he's wanted to do since he was a child and has already starred in a feature film.

"The app itself became so big, so quickly, that no-one really knew what to do with it," he says.

"I managed to get 100 followers in a week and I couldn't get that in three years on YouTube."

Daz had tried - unsuccessfully - to carve out a career as a YouTuber but that changed in 2013 when he posted a Vine that hit the top of the popular page.

Girls With Annoying Laughs helped Daz become one of the most recognisable Viners.

Warning: Third party content might contain ads

"I gained about 50,000 new followers, which at the time was unheard of," he explains.

"I actually tried to get in touch with someone from Vine to see if someone had bought my account fake followers.

"When I hit a million followers I said I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket and I'm really glad that I didn't."

He started posting on Instagram and YouTube and admits "some amazing companies" have paid him to feature their products in clips but won't say more.

Another Viner, Ben Phillips, has admitted to earning £12,000 from Ford for a six-second clip, allowing him to be a full-time creator of video.

He now uses Instagram as a way to share his clips.

The 23-year-old wouldn't discuss specific details about commercial opportunities but did say: "I never get asked to put the price in of the product.

"I just get asked if I can have a bit of fun with their product."

Ben says he wasn't that surprised Twitter decided to shut Vine and decided to leave before Twitter's announcement last year.

Speaking to Newsbeat he says: "Vine just didn't keep with the creator and the influencer.

"They lost sight of what Vine actually was. YouTube and Facebook have so much more to offer the creator now."

Ben has gone from 1.3m followers on Vine to 8.5m on Facebook but says he misses the simplicity of a six-second clip as his videos now have to be much longer.

Musicians like Shawn Mendes and Ruth B were discovered on the app and have gone on to release music.

Tish Simmonds went viral with a clip of her in her mum's car.

Tish recorded a music video for her Vine after it became an internet sensation - although she's yet to have the kind of music career Shawn Mendes has enjoyed.

She says she's "devastated" it's closing and she'll miss her friends she's made on it.

One of her highlights has been starring in a film with fellow Viner Dapper Laughs and, like Daz and Ben, she's vowing to continue on Facebook and YouTube with some comedy sketches.

"I wish Vine wasn't going."

And how will they all remember it?

Daz Black puts it best: "It really did blow up. These everyday people who are very talented, that would have gone unnoticed otherwise".

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