Divine, a short-form video app backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, officially opened to the public on Wednesday, TechCrunch reported. The app is positioned as a “spiritual successor” to Vine, the pioneering short-video platform, and is led by one of Vine’s original co-founders.

Vine was a trailblazer in short-form video, with its 6-second looping format profoundly shaping internet culture and nurturing a generation of content creators. However, unable to effectively compete with Instagram and TikTok, Vine was shut down by Twitter in 2017, leaving behind a devoted fanbase that has long called for its revival.

Divine’s key differentiator lies in its deep integration of AI creation tools. The app includes AI-assisted script generation, intelligent editing suggestions, and automated effects systems, lowering the barrier to video creation. Additionally, Divine employs a decentralized architecture, giving creators greater control over their content — a design philosophy consistent with Dorsey’s recent advocacy for decentralized social protocols.

Dorsey has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with centralized social platforms like TikTok, arguing that their excessive control over creators and algorithmic opacity harm the creative ecosystem. Divine is widely seen as his latest venture in the social media space.

Analysts point out that while Divine benefits from nostalgic appeal and high-profile investor backing, the short-video landscape has fundamentally transformed since Vine’s era. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts now dominate the market, with user habits and creator ecosystems having undergone fundamental shifts. Whether Divine can carve out a differentiated position in a market surrounded by tech giants remains to be seen.

Source: TechCrunch - Divine launches