Bluesky founder reboots Vine for AI-free social media — as human-only video becomes 'nostalgic'



Jack Dorsey is bringing the nostalgia back, just a few seconds at a time.

Dorsey co-founded Twitter in 2007 and served as its inaugural CEO for a year until returning to the position for a six-year stint in its seemingly darkest years between 2015 and 2021.

Now, through his nonprofit called and Other Stuff, Dorsey is bringing one of the internet's most beloved applications back from the dead.

'Can we do something that takes us back, that lets us see those old things ...'

"So basically, I'm like, can we do something that’s kind of nostalgic?" said Evan Henshaw-Plath, Dorsey's pick to spearhead the revival. The New Zealander comes from Dorsey's nonprofit team, where he is known as Rabble, and has outlined aspirations to bring the internet vibe back to its Web 2.0 time period — roughly 2004-2010 or thereabouts.

Dorsey and Henshaw-Plath are rebooting Vine, the six-second video app that predominantly served viewers short, user-generated comedy clips. The format is a clear inspiration for modern apps like TikTok and formats like YouTube's Shorts and Instagram's Reels.

Dorsey and company are focused on keeping the nostalgic feel, however, and unlike the other apps, will keep a six-second time limit while also taking a stance on content. What that means, according to Yahoo, is that the platform will reject AI-generated videos using special filters meant to prevent them from being posted.

RELATED: Social media matrix destroys free will; Dorsey admits ‘we are being programmed’

i loved vine. i found it pre-launch, pushed the company to buy it (i wasn’t ceo at the time), and they did great. but over time https://t.co/HNsCMGtS04 (tiktok) took off, and and the founders left, leaving vine directionless. when i came back as ceo we decided to shut it down…
— jack (@jack) April 11, 2024

The new app, called diVine, will revive 10,000 archived Vine posts, after the new team was able to extract a "good percentage" of some of the most popular videos.

Former Vine users are able to claim their old videos, so long as they can prove access to previously connected social media accounts that were on their former Vine profiles. Alternatively, the users can request that their old videos be taken down.

"The reason I funded the nonprofit and Other Stuff is to allow creative engineers like Rabble to show what's possible in this new world," Dorsey said, per Yahoo.

This will be done by "using permissionless protocols which can't be shut down based on the whim of a corporate owner," he added.

Henshaw-Plath commented on returning to simpler internet times — as silly as it sounds — when a person's content feed only consisted of accounts he follows, with real, user-generated content.

"Can we do something that takes us back, that lets us see those old things, but also lets us see an era of social media where you could either have control of your algorithms, or you could choose who you follow, and it's just your feed, and where you know that it's a real person that recorded the video?" he asked.

RELATED: Twitter announces the demise of video-sharing app Vine, internet weeps (2016)

According to Tech Crunch, Vine was acquired by Twitter in 2012 for $30 million before eventually shutting down in 2016.

The app sparked careers for personalities like Logan Paul, Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor, and John Richard Whitfield, aka DC Young Fly. Bachelor and Whitfield captured the genre that was most popular on the platform: eccentric young performers who published unique comedy.

DiVine is currently in a beta stage and is available only to existing users of the messenger app Nostr.

X owner Elon Musk announced in August that he was trying acquire access to Vine's archive so that users could post the videos on his platform.

"We recently found the Vine video archive (thought it had been deleted) and are working on restoring user access, so you can post them if you want," Musk wrote.

However, it seems the billionaire may have been beaten to the punch by longtime rival Dorsey.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

EXCLUSIVE: George Soros Gave $250K to British Group Working To Censor Conservative News Sites and ‘Kill Musk’s Twitter’

The left-wing philanthropy funded by George Soros, Open Society Foundations (OSF), bankrolls a British nonprofit that works to censor conservative news websites and social media companies, including through a plot to "kill" Elon Musk’s X by pressuring advertisers and investors to boycott the company.

The post EXCLUSIVE: George Soros Gave $250K to British Group Working To Censor Conservative News Sites and ‘Kill Musk’s Twitter’ appeared first on .

‘Might I Look At It Longer Than A Sunset?’: Dem Rep Responds To Accusations Of Viewing X-Rated Content On Flight

'Yikes!!!!'

A Harvard Dean Defended Death Threats Against Trump. The University Has Said Nothing.

Harvard University won’t say whether it will sanction a dean who defended “rioting and looting” as legitimate “parts of democracy,” described “whiteness” as a “self-destructive ideology,” and said it was acceptable to wish death on President Donald Trump.

The post A Harvard Dean Defended Death Threats Against Trump. The University Has Said Nothing. appeared first on .

How a Government Agency You've Never Heard of Censored Everyday Americans

On Oct. 7, 2020, a Twitter account by the name of "nodrog danarb" issued a warning about the coming election. "All conservatives vote in person," the individual tweeted, tagging the official Twitter account of the Washington Office of the Secretary of State. "Don't trust the mail." Such posts were a dime a dozen in the lead up to the 2020 election, as concerns about the COVID pandemic fueled an unprecedented spike in mail-in voting. This tweet, though, caught the attention of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), whose remit includes election infrastructure.

The post How a Government Agency You've Never Heard of Censored Everyday Americans appeared first on .

YouTube bans Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes AGAIN immediately after saying it would support 'free expression'



Less than two days after YouTube was alleged to be giving banned creators a second chance, the platform has reportedly banned controversial commentators Nick Fuentes and Alex Jones.

The news comes after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) made announcements about how Google, parent of YouTube, was prepared to make a series of policy changes after admitting to the fact that "White House pressure" during the Biden administration led to censorship of "political debate on COVID and elections."

'To clarify, we terminated this channel as it's still against our rules for previously terminated users to start a new channel ...'

Rep. Jordan wrote on X, "Due to our oversight efforts, GOOGLE commits to offer ALL creators previously kicked off YouTube due to political speech violations to return to the platform."

Testing out the new alleged commitments, both Alex Jones' Infowars platform and Fuentes reportedly started new YouTube channels. According to Infowars, it started a channel called AlexJonesLive, while Fuentes reportedly started RealNickFuentes.

On Thursday morning, Infowars said its channel had been removed, while AF Post, along with some Fuentes supporters, said his page was taken down by YouTube as well.

It was not long before YouTube responded to both claims directly and revealed that the pages were not taken down by mistake.

RELATED: Google admits to political censorship under Biden and says thousands of YouTube accounts will be reinstated

— (@)

Replying to Infowars, YouTube said, "To clarify, we terminated this channel as it's still against our rules for previously terminated users to start a new channel — the pilot program for terminations isn't available yet and will be a limited pilot program to start."

The platform added, "We'll have more to share on how the pilot program will work, who is eligible, and how creators can access it very soon."

In response to the report by AF Post, YouTube similarly wrote that the company "terminated these channels as it's still against our rules for previously terminated users to start new channels."

On its own X page, YouTube explained again that the pilot program is not yet live and that it will continue to terminate "new channels from previously terminated users in accordance with these guidelines."

RELATED: War Department contractor warns China is way ahead, and 'we don't know how they're doing it'

— (@)

A spokesman for Rep. Jordan told Blaze News that the new YouTube program will only "extend at a minimum to any users banned for policies no longer in effect."

The spokesman added, "The policies that have been rolled back the most were the COVID-19 and elections policies. This will include thousands of Americans and likely disproportionately conservatives. Others may be welcomed back onto the platform as well."

Jordan's office explained that, as they understand it, YouTube meant that the "limited" portion of the program referred to only users who were banned for policies that were no longer in effect. Still, Jordan's team referred to this as a "massive change," stating they believe it to be the first time YouTube has made a policy shift in this manner.

"But the main fact remains unchanged," the spokesman continued. "ANY account banned for policies no longer in effect WILL be allowed back onto the platform."

Blaze News asked Rep. Jordan's team if they know when the expected pilot program is set to begin; his team said they did not, but that they "expect a much larger announcement in the coming days from YouTube and that people will start returning to the platform soon."

"Our understanding is that YouTube is referring to it as a pilot program because it is a new step YouTube has not taken before, and there may be issues to work through with the rollout," the spokesman added.

— (@)

Fuentes spoke on his channel's deletion his X page on Thursday, noting YouTube's comment about reinstating "channels they approve under a 'limited pilot program.'"

"Sounds a little ridiculous. Can't we just have free speech?" he asked. "I've been banned since February 2020 when I was 21 years old."

He continued on his show, "America First," and revealed it was Jones' idea to do a "stress test" on YouTube by creating new accounts.

"It didn't last even 12 hours," he explained. "YouTube should have free speech; you said you have a renewed commitment to free speech. But you're still banning people?"

Vivek Ramaswamy, Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, said that while he thinks Fuentes may not like him, he still finds it "un-American" for his channel to be removed.

"Our country is at its best when we're able to hear one another," Ramaswamy wrote on X. "Nick Fuentes & Jimmy Kimmel probably don't like me, for different reasons. I don't care. It's still un-American to muzzle the peaceful expression of opinions. And no, that's not a legal point, it's a cultural point."

YouTube did not respond to Blaze News' questions about its pilot program.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Keith Olbermann Offers ‘Delayed’ Apology For Posting Online Threats Against Scott Jennings

'They could be misinterpreted'

Dems Are Losing Their Minds Over Trump’s ‘Smell Of Deportations In The Morning’ Post

'Illinois won’t be intimidated'

Newsom 2.0: Will EMBARRASSING new fake Trump persona boost the California governor?



California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has been in a constant state of political evolution, rolling out new versions of himself like iPhone updates — and is currently debuting the “social media troll” version.

“He’s got a new version of himself out. A new release, in theaters now,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere comments, pointing out Newsom’s new X account called Governor Newsom Press Office.

“His account that I guess is the official account for the press office of Newsom, but really it’s just turned into, like, a kind of new trolling thing,” Stu says.


“We started out with, like, you know, Democrat rising star Gavin Newsom. Then we went to playboy Gavin Newsom, who was the guy who actually slept with his best friend’s wife. So that’s a good character trait. Then, two, we had the 'I’m against Donald Trump.' The tough guy, the anti-Trump guy,” Stu continues, explaining Gavin’s metamorphosis.

“DEI master Gavin Newsom,” “COVID dictator Gavin Newsom,” “party-line man Gavin Newsom,” “anti-DEI centrist Gavin Newsom,” and “free-speech podcaster in the manosphere Gavin Newsom” are other identities he appears to have assumed.

His latest identity is “social media troll Gavin Newsom,” which many on the left and right have likened to President Trump’s social media habits — though while the left believes he’s been successful, the right isn’t interested.

“He’s out there tweeting all the time about this, trying to get attention for himself,” Stu says.

“And it is falling flat. By the way, you know, a lot of this is just to get attention to his new tough-guy redistricting plan,” he explains, noting that only 36% of his voters in California support the plan.

“I get that he’s trying to parody Trump. He’s not obviously, you know, witty or good at it, but like, you think you’d at least understand the jokes,” Stu says, pointing out an AI image Newsom posted on X of Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock, and Tucker Carlson praying.

“I obviously get the idea that sometimes Trump supporters post that type of stuff about Trump. Not 100% sure why those people are chosen or what it has to do with anything,” Stu says.

“But, you know, again, the only thing that Gavin Newsom cares about is his own profile, his own, you know, bank account, his own pond of attention that he’s always trying to dip his toes into. That’s all that matters to him,” he continues, adding, “So for right now, it’s working.”

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu's lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.