Vine may live on with a new owner, according to a new report. TechCrunch says Twitter is now evaluating multiple offers for the short-form video service, which it announced it was shutting down last month. Some of the offers are for less than $10 million, according to the report — less than it reportedly cost Twitter to run Vine for a single month. (The company declined to comment.)

Still, a sale could ensure that the huge archive of Vines remains online at a time when their current host, Twitter, is trying to slash costs. It would also allow the product to evolve after years of near-total stagnation. TechCrunch says that acquisition interest in Vine soared after the outpouring of grief that followed Twitter’s shutdown notice.

Twitter had hoped Vine would become our default way of sharing short videos with one another. Instead, it evolved into an entertainment network — a beloved but basically useless subsidiary of a company that has never had a coherent strategy around video.

Anyone who acquired Vine would face some thorny challenges. Vine usage has been declining for years, and it’s unclear how an acquirer could reverse the slide. The company comes with large fixed costs and no clear path to making money — major reasons why Twitter axed the product.

Still, Vines are great, and there should be more Vines. So wealthy benefactors, please step up. You will probably lose millions on this deal, but the internet will be forever grateful.

• Source: TechCrunch