Jack Dorsey

Cast your mind back a few years – well, several, actually – and you may well remember Vine. The social network focused on short-form videos, and it was killed off nearly 10 years ago. Now, re-entering a very busy social arena, Vine is back.

This time, the platform is going by the name diVine, and it is partly funded by one of Jack Dorsey’s ventures. This is not just a relaunch of the old video sharing platform; there is an attempt to resurrect as much of the original content as possible.

Jack Dorsey – the co-founder of Twitter and Block, and the founder of Bluesky – took to X to share some enticing details about the latest project he is working on.

Called bitchat, this is a messaging app that not only has security at its very core, but does not require internet access to work. A messaging app without internet? Dorsey explains that this is a secure, decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging app that works over Bluetooth mesh networks.

With changes implemented by Elon Musk having disastrous consequences for Twitter, there has been something of an exodus of users. It is "something of an exodus", because while many people are finding new social homes on the likes of T2, Spoutible, Mastodon or -- if they can get their hands on an invite code -- Jack Dorsey's Bluesky, many people are hedging their bets and maintaining something of a presence on Twitter until it becomes a little clearer what the likely successor is to be.

Realistically, the battle seems likely be fought between Mastodon and Bluesky, and Mozilla has just announced an expansion of its investment in the former. The company behind the Firefox web browser has launched its own Mastodon instance, Mozilla.social, in private beta.

Elon Musk, the CEO of both Telsa and SpaceX, recently went shopping. He splashed $2.89 billion on Twitter stock, making him the largest shareholder in the company, with a hefty 9.2 percent holding.

While it is not yet clear what Musk intends to do with the influence he now undoubtedly wields, he is certainly not going to be sitting quietly. In a tweet posted overnight, the entrepreneur tweeted a poll asking if Twitter users would like an edit button.

Having stepped down as CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey is not done with change. His other company Square has just announced that it is changing its name to Block -- something it says "differentiates the Square brand, which was built for the Seller business, from the corporate entity".

With the rebranding there will be no organizational changes; Square, Cash App, TIDAL, and TBD54566975 will continue to maintain their respective brands. While a press release expresses some of the thinking behind the change in name, many believe it is also a reference to blockchain, and could signal a move into cryptocurrencies.

In times of crisis, billionaires are often criticized for failing to help out. But when it comes to fighting coronavirus, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is digging deep and offering up more than a quarter of his personal wealth.

In all, Dorsey is donating $1 billion to help fund global COVID-19 relief. The philanthropic venture sees the Twitter chief executive moving $1 billion worth of shares in his payments company Square into a charitable fund, called Start Small LLC.