Divine: Jack Dorsey-backed app brings back Vine legacy

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TAGS: Social Media, Jack Dorsey, Divine, Vine, Tech News

CONTEUDO:

The spirit of Vine is officially returning to mobile devices with the public launch of Divine. Backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey through his nonprofit “and Other Stuff,” the platform revives the iconic six-second looping video format while attempting to reshape the current social media landscape.

Divine is now available for download on the App Store, Google Play, and the Zapstore. The app currently hosts an archive of roughly 500,000 original Vine videos, sourced from nearly 100,000 creators, and allows users to begin recording new content.

Restoring a Piece of Internet History

The technical heavy lifting behind the project was led by Evan Henshaw-Plath, an early Twitter engineer known online as “Rabble.” To reconstruct the platform, the team relied on backups from the Archive Team, which had preserved the original service’s data.

Henshaw-Plath had to develop custom big data scripts to process 40-50 GB binary files, ensuring that user engagement metrics—such as likes, views, and comments—remained tethered to the original content. The project has already garnered support from notable early Vine creators, including Lele Pons, JimmyHere, MightyDuck, and Jack and Jack.

A Stand Against “AI Slop”

Unlike many modern social feeds, Divine is taking a firm stance against artificial intelligence. Users are required to either record directly within the app or verify the origin of their uploads using C2PA standards.

“I decided that I was going to filter out AI content because I personally don’t like seeing AI content. I don’t like feeling tricked,” Rabble stated, noting that early feedback from original Viners encouraged the team to prioritize human-centric design over a quick release.

Open Protocols and Future Growth

Divine functions as a public benefit corporation without a traditional revenue model. Its underlying architecture is built on the Nostr protocol, with the team actively experimenting with integration for the AT Protocol (used by Bluesky) and potentially ActivityPub.

Key features of the current release include:

• Compilation Mode: Allows users to curate and stream custom lists of videos based on hashtags or specific themes.
• Web Profiles: User profiles are accessible via the web, regardless of app installation.
• Gradual Rollout: While now public, the app is utilizing an invite-code system to manage the flow of new users.