Did We Bring Back Vine?
Summary
Hosts Benedict and Mary interview Rabble, creator of Divine, a new app inspired by their podcast to revive Vine’s spirit. Rabble, an early Twitter engineer, discusses partnering with Jack Dorsey to build an open-source, AI-free platform that restores user control and archives original Vine content. The episode explores Divine’s mission to fix social media’s broken incentives while addressing challenges like monetization and Elon Musk’s trademark ownership.
Topics discussed
Introduction: A listener inspired by the podcast creates Divine
Meet Evan 'Rabble' Henshaw-Plath: Social media pioneer
The decline of the open web and rise of walled gardens
The problem of centralized power in social media
Reviving Vine's soul with open internet principles
Building Divine: From one-man project to viral launch
Beta testing, algorithms, and user choice
Moderation challenges and reclaiming the Vine archive
The Social Contract: User rights and data sovereignty
AI training data and the volunteer developer community
Elon Musk, trademarks, and the legal gray area
Conclusion: The legacy of Divine and future of social media
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