Twitter’s original employee, Evan Henshaw-Plath, is reviving the popular video-sharing app Vine under the new name Divine. This revamped six-second video platform aims to bring back the genuine human creativity that made the original Vine a hit with viral clips like “What are those?” and “It is Wednesday, my dudes.” Divine pledges to showcase authentic content without the use of artificial intelligence (AI), as it flags and blocks suspected GenAI material from being posted.
In an interview with Business Insider, Henshaw-Plath, also known as Rabble, emphasized the importance of social media prioritizing human connections over polished videos. He launched Divine to combat what he calls the “enshittification” of the internet, criticizing the profit-driven decay of platforms that prioritize shareholders over users.
Divine, currently undergoing beta testing, has already restored over 100,000 archived videos from the original Vine platform. The project has received financial backing from Jack Dorsey’s non-profit organization, And Other Stuff, which supports open-source initiatives aiming to revolutionize social media. Twitter acquired Vine in 2012 and later shut it down in 2017, a decision Dorsey has expressed regret over.
Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), has also expressed interest in resurrecting Vine. Although Musk’s team reportedly found the Vine video archive earlier this year, no official announcement or release has been made yet.