A Return to Human Made Feeds
The revived platform launches with more than one lakh archived Vine clips, carefully preserved by a collective called Archive Time. The group describes itself as a network of archivists, programmers and writers committed to protecting digital heritage. Vine, once used by more than 200 million people every month, shut down in 2016. Its short, looping videos remain widely considered a defining cultural product of early social media.
Evan Rabble Henshaw Plath, an early Twitter employee who now works with Dorsey’s nonprofit And Other Stuff, led the effort to rebuild the platform using this archive. Speaking to TechCrunch, he said the aim was to create a space that feels closer to the earlier Web 2.0 environment. According to him, users valued feeds shaped by real people rather than opaque algorithms or synthetic content. His comments underline a growing dissatisfaction with the influence of AI on online expression.
AI Strictly Not Allowed
The most striking feature of diVine is its complete prohibition on AI generated clips. Any suspected use of AI will be blocked before publishing. The detection system uses verification methods adapted from the Guardian Project, a human rights organisation known for its secure technology tools. Henshaw Plath told TechCrunch that companies often misread engagement on AI content as genuine interest. He argued that people still want control over their online spaces, not endless streams of algorithmically amplified material.
Giving Creators Back Their Space
Access to diVine is being granted first to nearly sixty thousand original Vine creators whose work was successfully recovered. They will be able to reclaim their accounts, review their archived videos and upload fresh content. The platform itself runs on Nostr, an open source protocol that Dorsey supports for its decentralised design. In his statement to TechCrunch, he suggested that Nostr encourages developers to build without relying on large corporate structures or restrictive business models.Interest has surged since the limited rollout. Henshaw Plath posted online that ten thousand users joined the TestFlight version within four hours. The app is available on Android but continues to face delays on the Apple App Store after repeated rejections.The revival comes at a time when X owner Elon Musk has also expressed his intentions to restore Vine’s archive. Futurism notes that this overlap could lead to disputes over legacy content and platform ownership once diVine gains more visibility.
For now, diVine’s pitch is clear. In an internet increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, it offers a nostalgic alternative built around authenticity, human creativity and community driven discovery.
