Jack Dorsey funds diVine, a Vine reboot that includes Vine’s video archive

In an exciting twist for social media enthusiasts, Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, is backing a new app called diVine that aims to resurrect the beloved six-second looping videos from Vine. Launched recently, this innovative platform will grant users access to over 100,000 archived Vine videos, meticulously restored from a backup created before the original service was discontinued. diVine is not just a nostalgic trip down memory lane; it also offers users the ability to create their own profiles and upload new Vine-style videos. Unlike many contemporary social media platforms where AI-generated content often goes unchecked, diVine will actively identify and restrict the posting of suspected AI content, ensuring that the user experience remains authentic. The initiative is funded through Dorsey’s nonprofit organization, "and Other Stuff," which was established in May 2025. This organization is dedicated to supporting experimental open-source projects that have the potential to reshape the social media landscape. Evan Henshaw-Plath, a former Twitter employee and member of the nonprofit, has been at the forefront of this project. He delved into the Vine archives to see if it was feasible to extract old content for a new mobile application. After Vine's closure in 2016, the Archive Team—a community-driven project—saved Vine's content, although it was stored in large, cumbersome files that were not user-friendly. Recognizing this challenge, Henshaw-Plath, also known as Rabble, embarked on a mission to reconstruct the Vine videos along with their associated user information, such as views and comments. Rabble stated, "I wanted to create something that evokes nostalgia while also allowing users to interact with content in a more meaningful way, where they can control their feed and know the videos are from real people." After several months of coding and data recovery, Rabble succeeded in assembling a substantial portion of the most popular Vine videos, although many lesser-known clips, such as millions of K-pop fan videos, were not archived. Currently, diVine features around 150,000 to 200,000 videos from approximately 60,000 creators, compared to the original Vine's millions of users and creators. Content creators retain ownership of their work and can request the removal of their videos through a DMCA takedown if desired. They can also verify their identity to regain control of their profiles and upload new or previously unarchived content. To ensure that new uploads are created by humans, the app employs verification technology from the Guardian Project, a nonprofit that validates that content originates from smartphones. Built on the decentralized Nostr protocol favored by Dorsey, diVine is open-source, allowing developers to create their own applications and manage their own servers. Dorsey emphasized the importance of this approach, stating, "The reason I funded the nonprofit is to empower creative engineers like Rabble to explore new possibilities using permissionless protocols that can't be easily shut down by corporate interests." Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the current owner of Twitter/X, has also expressed intentions to revive Vine, having discovered the archived content, but no concrete plans have been rolled out. The diVine project, however, is confident in its legal stance, asserting that its operation complies with fair use since the content is sourced from an online archive with creators retaining their copyrights. Rabble believes there is a significant demand for a social media experience that prioritizes authenticity over AI-generated content, stating, "People want agency over their social interactions and a return to the community-driven essence of early social media." diVine is now available for download on both iOS and Android devices at diVine.video.