Hey everyone, and welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
culture podcast bring you the biggest stories from social
media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
My name is Annabelle and I'm your Wednesday Mini Tech Scroll
host and also the deputy editor of the youth digital media brand
Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Tech
Scroll. I just wanted to say I do have a
couple of updates at the top of this week's episode, so feel
free to skip ahead if you aren't interested.
There are always time stamps in the description.
The first thing I will say is that I am feeling a little bit
behind on my reading for this episode because we have had such
a busy week this week. On Monday, Lauren and I went to
a Spotify event for the Arias and saw the kid Leroy perform,
which was really cool. So thank you to Spotify for
inviting us. And then yesterday I was lucky
enough to attend the Addison tour.
It was so great. Addison Ray is such a great
performer. She is so charismatic, she has
such stage presence and I'm honestly so excited to see her
develop as an artist. Literally seeing songs like
Times like These, New York Famous and Gone Aquamarine live
was like literally a spiritual experience.
It was also really cool to see her in such a small venue since
this was her first tour and we managed to get really close
which was really fun vibe. Anyway, that was all such a
great experience. But then on my way driving home
from the concert last night, I got in a small car collision
while I was driving. Everyone is fine, there was no
one injured and the car is also fine.
But stuff like that, it's always a little bit scary.
So forgive me if I'm a little bit off my game today, but I
have tried my best to get all of this content ready for today's
episode. And actually, we have one last
thing before I get into the stories for our Sydney
listeners. Afterpay is doing a big Black
Friday pop up tomorrow morning at Pitt St.
Mall and they're giving away cash prizes.
If you guys are around, you may see Lauren and I there.
We might be popping in to see what Afterpay has to offer, but
yes, that is a lot for the top of this episode.
Please remember to rate, review and subscribe and star rate US
on Spotify. We also have a buy me a coffee
link in our description if you want to check that out.
Let's finally get into the content.
My first story for today is that we need to talk about Divine,
which is a reboot of the one and only short form video app Vine.
So Divine is described as quote a new short form video app
inspired by Vine and creative six second format preserving
authentic human creativity. And Divine is backed and funded
by Jack Dorsey, who you may have heard of as the Co founder of
Twitter. And he also served as the CEO of
Twitter through 2000 and seven, 2008 and then also 2015 to 2021
for a brief history of Twitter and Vine.
Twitter actually acquired Vine for around $30 million in
October 2012. So Dorsey's interest and
connection Divine is definitely not unprecedented.
According to New York Times reporting from 2016, Dorsey
actually pushed for the deal, believing that Vine was the
quote next big thing in social media, essentially an Instagram
with video. While Dorsey had a connection to
Vine through Twitter, we should specify that Divine is an
independent short form video app and actually has no affiliation
to X, which is formerly Twitter obviously, and the original Vine
platform. Anyway.
So let's let's get into this new Vine Divine a little bit more.
The idea reportedly came about during production and
conversations for the Revolution dot Social podcast, which is all
about the future of social media and is hosted by Twitters first
employee rabble, whose real name is Evan Henshall Plath, as per
the Divine website. Several Internet culture
experts, including Yoel Roth and Taylor Runs, both of whom we've
actually had on our podcast, spoke about how they have missed
Vine since it was closed. And this prompted discussions to
ultimately bring back the platform in a way that is
suitable for 2025. So with this Dorseys nonprofit
and other stuff, which was formed earlier this year in May,
has actually financed divine creation.
And from what we know so far, the platform is going to host
much of the Vine Art Archive, which has been saved by a group
called the archive Team. As the Divine website reads
quote Divine has imported archived videos from archive
teams preservation work, giving these authentic pre AI era
videos a new home on the decentralized web.
I think incorporating the archive is really fun and also
definitely feeds into the current cultural moment where
everyone is obsessed with 2016 and feeling nostalgic for this
era. But you may be wondering what is
the appeal of another short form video platform when literally
every social media platform has incorporated short form in one
way or another? And we're even seeing
publications do that now with The New York Times being one
example. And this is definitely a valid
question. And obviously there is the
nostalgia factor like I just mentioned, but I think Divine is
specifically interesting and intriguing because it's not
going to allow AI content on the platform.
Reportedly, AI content will be labeled on the app and even
prevented from being posted. According to the website, the
platform will be using proof mode technology to ensure that
the content is captured by real cameras as opposed to AI
generated. As it explains on the website,
Quote Proof mode was originally developed for human rights
activists, journalists, and witnesses to prove that their
documentation of events is authentic and unaltered.
We've brought the same technology to social media.
Just as activists need to prove their videos are real, we all
need ways to distinguish human centered content from AI
generated fakes. I could see this definitely
being a major pull factor for people to start joining and
posting on the platform, especially with all the
increasingly problematic AI generated content that we
literally talk about every week here on mini tech.
Banning AI may also help build that person to person connection
that is definitely becoming increasingly difficult to find
on various platforms. I also think people might be
inclined to post on an app like this because it isn't owned by
Elon Musk. And I say that because if you
guys recall, earlier this year I reported that Elon Musk was
trying to bring back fine. On August 3rd, 2025, Elon took
to X writing quote grok imagine is AI Vine.
And then in the same tweet, he added that quote.
By the way, we've recently found the Vine video archive brackets
that had been deleted and are working on restoring user access
so you can post them if you want.
So there is definitely that factor to think about as well.
But obviously, like we always say, there is always a user
acquisition problem when it comes to new platforms and
getting people to download the app.
So who knows how it will all land, But I'm definitely curious
to hear what you guys think about a anti AI platform and
bringing back Vine in this kind of way.
That brings us to our next story, which is an update on
Meta's antitrust case. I have reported on this before,
but I will give a little bit of a summary about this case if you
missed it. At a basic level, antitrust law
is essentially a set of federal laws that try to promote
economic competition and limit monopoly.
Obviously, economic competition is good because it can drive
down prices, encourage innovation, and also be more
efficient. And in the past few years, we
have seen tech giants like Meta, Google, Apple come under fire
for allegedly illegally monopolizing various aspects of
the digital space. And that ranges from ad tech to
social media platforms. This antitrust trial between
Meta and the US Federal Trade Commission has been making
headlines for months. And today it's been reported
that the tech company has actually won the case.
Since this case has been going on for ages, it was actually
brought forward in 2020, but it was later dismissed.
I can't go through everything, but I will give you the
highlights on the latest developments.
So this case really kicked off again around seven months ago
and the key question was whether Meta monopolized the market
after buying Instagram and WhatsApp.
Meta. But as it was known then,
Facebook had acquired Instagram in 2012 and then WhatsApp later
in 2014. If the FTC had succeeded in
presenting its case, Meta could have been forced to give up
Instagram and WhatsApp, which would have been massive for the
company because of the way it relies on Instagram for AD
revenue as well as WhatsApp for business subscriptions.
One of the main arguments that Meta used to prove that it had
not monopolized personal social networking was pointing to the
growth of other apps like TikTok and YouTube, where Zuckerberg
himself had said that Meta's growth had really slowed since
the rise of TikTok. During the trial, he even said,
quote people spend more time on YouTube than on Facebook and
Instagram combined, certainly more than either 1
independently. In response to these claims, the
FTC did go on to argue that Mehta still held a monopoly
because it's apps focus more on connecting people like friends
and family, which is different to an app like TikTok, which has
become more about entertainment. Anyway, from today it's clear
that Mehta's position clearly worked in their favor, with the
judge writing that the company had not cornered the personal
social networking market in the decision.
TikTok was actually described as Metas fiercest rival as it was
written. Quote.
Whether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in its past, the
agency must show that it continues to hold such power
now. The court's verdict today
determines that the FTC has not done so.
From what I have read about this case, many journalists and
experts don't seem that surprised by this outcome,
especially because the FTC's case had kind of struggled since
the beginning where it was dismissed.
It didn't help also that the social media landscape has
changed so rapidly and so dramatically over the past few
years. And along with that, Meta's
products have changed significantly.
So it might have been harder to make the FTC's argument.
Obviously, Meta's win is super significant because it means
that Meta will not be forced to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp.
It's also a massive win for Big Tech when it comes to antitrust.
And this seems to be a trend because just recently, a federal
judge in the US actually found that Google wouldn't have to
spin off Chrome when it was fighting its own antitrust case.
So it seems as of right now, these tech giants will be able
to continue as usual. My last story for today is a
little bit of a shorter one and that is that YouTube is getting
a weak weekly live late night show next year.
The show is set to be called Outside Tonight and will be
hosted by Julian Shapiro Barnum, who is the host of Recess
Therapy, who I'm sure many of you would have encountered on
your recommended page or TikTok for you page at some point,
according to YouTube quote set in public parks and on street
corners, outside tonight with Julian Shapiro Barnum
revitalizes a classic format with weekly live shows packed
with star-studded interviews, audience driven games, live
music and non-stop com Obviously, this definitely
aligns with the type of content that Julian makes now where you
often see him interviewing celebrities or children.
I feel like Miles is the most famous one.
Having said that, the outside Tonight channel is already live
and currently sitting at 122 subscribers.
So it's still very early days and there's obviously no content
that has been posted yet. But As for why YouTube is kind
of moving into this space, Deadline reports quote It comes
as YouTube is turning its focus to promote a small number of
creators and on camera stars that debut their shows
exclusively on the platform. It comes off the back of the
launch party for Season 3 of Brittany Broski's Royal Court,
where execs noted the difference between Old Hollywood and New
Hollywood. I thought this story was
interesting because figures there's been discussion around
how late night talk shows are kind of on the downfall and that
Gen. Z just doesn't really care about
them. So it's interesting that YouTube
is leaning into it. I will say it doesn't really
feel like a groundbreaking idea, Kind of feels a little bit late
maybe. I feel like this could have been
something they did a couple of years ago.
And also because so many talk shows slash interview shows
where celebrities already exist, they might be a little bit more
in a podcast and longer form format, but there's definitely
interest in this kind of from young people because we've
definitely seen this, like with podcasts, for example, Call Her
Daddy. Young people are super quick to
tune in to hear their favorite influences and celebrities share
stories or speak about their latest projects.
And a talk show like this kind of just feels like an extension
of that format, but kind of also reverting to the old format.
I don't know. I'm curious to hear as well what
you guys think about this. I imagine it will do well.
I feel like there's always viral clips from this kind of content
that tends to circulate. And also I'm wondering if this
will kind of even the gender divide between late night style
talk shows. We know that's been an ongoing
problem. I'm sure some of us remember
when Lily Singh or I, I Superwoman, I, I, I haven't
thought about her in years, actually launched her late night
talk show and that didn't end well where she even claimed that
it was because the show wasn't set up for success.
Well, that is everything from mini tech scroll today.
Thank you for bearing with me after my chaotic start to the
week. I hope you guys still enjoyed
this episode and if you're in Sydney, remember to check out
the after pay event. Other than that, Lauren will
speak to you guys tomorrow and I, I should be back next week.
Thanks for listening. Bye.