Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI TECH SCROLL: Vine reboot (finally), Meta's antitrust win + YouTube live late night show

Transcript

MINI TECH SCROLL: Vine reboot (finally), Meta's antitrust win + YouTube live late night show · Mini Scroll

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