Elon Musk has once again sparked talk about bringing Vine back on X, the social network he leads. The chatter comes as the United States weighs restrictions on TikTok and opens room for new short video options, according to industry reports.
Vine was a six second video service that gathered a loyal following before it shut down in 2017. The current idea is to wire Vine style features into X, which Musk has described as a universal app that could handle messaging, payments, video, and other forms of entertainment.
This is not Musk’s first revival attempt. In 2022 he ran a user poll asking whether Vine should return. Industry sources say restoring Vine would require real effort. If it succeeds, Vine could challenge TikTok in the United States.
Musk’s approach echoes Meta’s tactic of adding short video through Reels on Instagram, a feature within a large social platform. The comparison underlines a broader shift toward embedding bite sized video across major apps.
At the same time, it is premature to declare TikTok finished in the United States. The service continues to face legal and regulatory scrutiny, and developments in government circles could influence any final decision about its fate.
Earlier in recent years, some apps were pulled from the US App Store amid tensions around TikTok, illustrating the friction surrounding short video services in the US.